Anna Begins
by MissJessWalker
Summary: All Paul wants is to be a good friend. All Anna wants is to be happy. So how do they fit together when Paul imprints on Anna? True love trumps everything, right? Even when it's not easy? (Paul/OC)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, friends! Here it is, the first chapter to Anna Begins - a sequel/companion to my story Still Breathing. If you have read SB and are here to continue to Paul's story: Welcome back! Thank you so much for sticking around! If you're new and haven't read SB: Welcome! I'm not sure how much of the dynamic between Paul, Felicity, and Jacob will be evident right away (or how much of SB's plot will have to do with this one...), but if you're super not interested in reading SB first I hope you enjoy finding your way with these characters here! Above everything, thank you for taking the time at all to check out one of my stories.**

 **I'll put a little more info in the ending A/N (mostly about when I'll update), but for now I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Anna Begins! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. (That disclaimer stands for the whole story. I refuse to type that every time I update.)**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 _Anna_

I'd always liked the quiet, rainy town of Forks. It was the perfect place for my grandparents to spend their retirement, and visiting every Christmas was basically a winter wonderland. So moving there a couple of months after Grandma died to be close to Grandpa wasn't exactly a hardship.

I mean, switching schools more than halfway through my senior year sucked. Transferring and making sure all my credits ended up in order was a bit stressful. But aside from that, it wasn't like I was teeming with friends that would miss me. I'd simply go from being a loner in Colorado to being a loner in Washington.

My younger brother Alex wasn't exactly thrilled at the move, since he _did_ have friends who he'd miss, but was trying to be as positive as possible as we carted all our belongings into our new apartment. "At least there's actually room for your bookshelves here, Annie," he said to me as he set another box full of books on the floor of my room. He was right—our last apartment had been a little more than half the size of this one, and the wall space in my room was so scarce I'd had to stack my books in my closet in lieu of putting up my two tall bookshelves.

"I'm assuming that means you're volunteering to put them together for me?" I asked teasingly.

Alex smiled. "Only if you organize all the chords and shit in my room after I hook up my TV."

I pretended to consider it for a moment; both he and I knew I'd say yes, just like it wasn't actually a question of whether or not he'd help me with my shelves. "I guess I can do that. You know, if I'm not too busy."

He laughed. "Try to work me into your schedule." Then he left the room to go grab more boxes from the moving truck.

As I followed the direction he went, my mom called me into her new bedroom. I veered to the right and into the room she'd be sharing with Dad. The mattress and box-spring were leaned against the far wall, boxes all over the rest of the floor. Mom was going through them, trying to get something akin to organized. She looked up when I entered the room. "Annie, baby, can you go get something for us to eat? It's such a small town, I'm sure there's something within walking distance." Our little car was still packed to the brim—we were focusing on emptying the moving truck first so we didn't have to rent that out for another full day.

"Sure," I said, glad for the excuse to take a break from carrying and sorting boxes. "Any preferences?"

Mom shook her head, digging some money out of her pocket and walking it over to me. "Whatever you can find should be alright. I'm sure your brother and father are hungry enough to eat a horse by this point." She smiled, nudging me a little. "And you know you need to eat something."

My mother was terribly sensitive to the fact that I wasn't a big eater. Not that I didn't enjoy food—I just didn't have an especially hardy appetite. Which sometimes led to me forgetting to eat. Which in turn worried Mom, causing her to keep a mind to my eating habits on a regular basis. I'd decided a while ago not to let it bother me; it wasn't like I didn't _want_ to eat. Getting reminders to do so wasn't the worst thing that could happen.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm actually hungry." And that was the truth—moving was hard work. "I'll be back soon."

On my way out of the building, I passed a pretty girl with wavy hair. I was all prepared to keep my head down and maintain zero eye contact, but before I could get to the stairs she called, "Hey! Excuse me?" Her voice was kind but insistent. I couldn't ignore it without seeming rude.

So I paused in my tracks and half turned to face her. "Yes?"

She smiled, stepping closer to me with her hand extended. "I'm new here, so I haven't had a chance to meet all the neighbors just yet. I'm Felicity."

I gave a small, close-mouthed smile back and shook her hand. "I'm new too. My family is moving in as we speak, actually. I'm Anna."

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Well then, welcome. Do you need any help? I have a roommate and a boyfriend, both of which would be great help at carrying up boxes."

If Alex were the one here having this conversation, he would have said yes. He'd have accepted the offer gratefully and without a second thought. I, on the other hand, was socially inept and immediately shook my head before her words even processed. "Thanks, but we're okay."

She bit her lip, clearly uncomfortable with my quick refusal.

Now I felt bad. This Felicity girl was only trying to be nice. She didn't deserve to deal with my awkwardness. "Um…" I mumbled, trying to think of how to salvage this exchange. "I'm on my way to get food. Do you know any good places nearby?"

Felicity nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes! If you want really close, there's a pizza place a couple blocks away. They have some of the best breadsticks I've ever eaten in my life. And if you go into town, there's a Chinese restaurant close to the grocery store—that's where I work, so I go to the restaurant often. So good. Other than that, there's not much else other than a McDonald's on the other side of town. Unless you want to go onto the reservation, but you said nearby…and while the rez is literally _right there_ , there's quite a bit of trees to go through before you'd get to their businesses."

She stopped talking and looked at me expectantly. I didn't know how to respond to that overload of information, so I just blinked at her for a moment. Then I said, "Okay. Thank you!" My feet began moving, carrying me down the hall and to the stairs without my permission. That was not the way to end a conversation. That wasn't even really a conversation at all. It was me being an idiot while kind Felicity tried to be a good neighbor.

I'd made a fool of myself. What a shock.

Outside and walking in the direction I hoped took me toward that pizza place she'd mentioned, I tried to shake off the interaction. Why did it matter if I couldn't even handle an innocent social interaction? I'd made it without friends in Colorado, and I could make it without friends here. So when Felicity inevitably avoided me and told all her friends about how weird I was, which would likely spread all around this tiny town, I'd be fine. I was okay with being alone.

* * *

 _Paul_

The front door opening snapped me out of the power nap I'd been taking on our couch. Felicity shut the door behind her, then froze. "Paul," she said. "It looks great!"

I grinned, sitting up and glancing around the room. We'd moved into this apartment barely a week ago, and Felicity was trying hard to make it homely. So while she was gone today, I took the liberty of helping out—by putting up some pictures in the living room. There were some of everyone: Felicity and Jake, me and Felicity, Kai, Emily, the rest of our pack of friends. It wasn't much, but I'd wanted to at least do a little something.

"Picked out the frames myself," I bragged.

"Wow," she said, walking closer to study the basic metal frames. "How artistic."

"Exactly what I was going for."

She smiled. "Thank you, Paulie."

I winked back at her. "Anytime, doll."

"So," she said, flopping down on the other end of the couch, "turns out we aren't the only newbies here."

"Cool," I said, not really caring as I made my way to the kitchen. A power nap was nothing if it wasn't followed by a power snack.

"It's a family. I met the girl, but I don't know how many others there are."

I looked at her over the breakfast bar. "Is there any particular reason you're telling me this? She didn't threaten you or anything, right? We don't need to be on guard?"

Felicity rolled her eyes. "No, of course not."

"Because I don't care, I'm not afraid to get in someone's face if they're being an ass to you. I'm not afraid of some girl." I smiled, pouring most of a box of cereal into a large bowl. "It's been a hot minute since I've gotten to tell someone off."

"You're so dramatic." She sighed. "I just met her in the hallway and thought I'd make conversation."

I grabbed a spoon from the drawer. "Make conversation with me or her?"

"Well, her first. And now you."

A gasp left my mouth as I sat back down on the couch with her, huge bowl of cereal in my hands. "I thought I was your first! And now I'm replaced by some random new girl? That's cold, doll."

"You're impossible," she said, glaring at me.

I shrugged, bringing a spoonful to my lips. "You love me anyway."

"You—" she started to say, but then her dearest love and imprint and blah blah blah mushy shit walked in the door. A grin took over her face—which was good, the girl was smiling more and more often lately—and she stood to give him a hug. Those two were apparently progressing their relationship in baby steps. The fact that they weren't at least up to making out confounded me. I knew they'd kissed; the entire pack knew, partly because we saw it happen at the bonfire and partly because Jake's thoughts had a tendency to trail to the memory of it. So why didn't they make it a regular thing? If I were in Jake's shoes…

Well. Whatever. I wasn't. I instead got to be Felicity's best friend, something I was more than okay with. I'd been something of a shit before I started shifting, and now that I had good friends—friends that were practically family—I wanted nothing more than to be better for them. I may act like an ass, but I had their backs. I could be fucking supportive, thank you very much. And so even though Jake and Felicity and their snail's pace relationship made no sense to me, I wouldn't give them a hard time about it…much.

"Whoa, there," I said in between bites of cereal. "Innocent eyes are present, you two. Get a room."

Felicity laughed, but Jake narrowed his eyes at me. "Innocent isn't a word anyone would use to describe you."

I grinned. He wasn't wrong. Not that I'd been living up to that particular reputation lately. "Glad to see you too, man."

Now Jake smiled. Before Felicity had come along and he'd imprinted, I hadn't liked the little punk. His previous obsession with a certain leechlover made it hard to respect him. But in the past couple of months that'd been flipped on its head. Felicity was here, Bella Swan was nowhere to be found, and Jake and I were actually friends.

"I was just telling Paul that there's more new people moving in. A family." Felicity sat back down on the couch.

Jake took the chair, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees as he focused on Felicity and what she had to say. It was like he was watching someone announce winning lottery numbers—like it was seriously fucking important and he was in awe. "Oh yeah, I saw the moving truck in the lot."

Felicity nodded. "I don't know how many people will move in, but there's definitely at least a girl. Around our age."

His head tilted to the side for a second as he considered her words. Clearly he was having trouble figuring out why his imprint was so enthused about this news. Glad I wasn't the only one. But then he smiled. "You going to make a new friend?"

She smiled back. "Maybe."

"Wait," I said, leaning forward and placing my now empty bowl on the coffee table. "You want to make _another_ friend? Why would you want to do that when you have me? How could you possibly need more?"

She scoffed. "You're not exactly feminine, Paul."

I leaned back in my seat, aghast. "So? I'm still an amazing fucking friend."

Her lips twitched. "And modest."

"Clearly."

"But it's not about how good of a friend you are." She rolled her eyes. "I just think it'd be cool to have a friend who's a girl."

My brows arched. "Emily?"

She frowned. "Emily's great…but someone who's not Emily."

"Kim?"

Felicity crossed her arms over her chest. "Not Kim, either. It's nothing against them—they're super nice and I'll still spend time with them. But I don't think it'd be terrible to have another friend. One that I make myself instead of one that's built into the pack."

Jacob reached out, resting his hand on her knee. "Are we pressuring you too much with pack stuff?"

She shook her head, indignant. "I'm okay with pack stuff. The pack isn't the problem. I just want to make a friend."

I raised my hand. "And am I chopped liver?"

Jacob glared at me. "Would you stop giving her a hard time?"

"It's an honest question!" I defended myself. "She made friends with me not too long ago. That wasn't entirely pack related."

"I don't see why it has to be such a big deal," Felicity said. "I met one of our new neighbors in the hall earlier, and now I think it'd be cool to try to be friends with her. It's not like I've been out scouring the streets for replacement friends."

I chuckled. "Scouring?"

She smiled. "If you're going to be dramatic, so am I."

"Touche, doll."

"So," Jacob said, leading us out of that dead end of a conversation, "was she nice?"

She nodded. "Yes, but she seemed kind of…shy? I don't know. It was weird. Not in a bad way or anything. I think I may have made her uncomfortable."

"Stranger danger," I said. "You're terrifying."

Felicity snickered. "I'm sure that was it."

"Well, try to invite her over or something if you talk to her again," Jake suggested.

"Yeah," I said, smirking. "We've got to sign off on your new friend. Isn't that best friend code? Oldest must approve newest or some shit like that?"

Felicity laughed, tossing a throw pillow at my face. "You're so annoying."

I swatted her with the pillow. "I think the word you're looking for is _attractive._ Or maybe _irresistible_? Possibly even _god-like_? Really, the choice is yours; any of those would be fitting."

She scoffed. "Maybe I'll get lucky and my replacement BFF will be less delusional."

Grabbing my bowl and heading into the kitchen, I tipped my head back and laughed. "Good luck replacing me, doll. No way you're shaking me anytime soon."

* * *

 **So...what do y'all think? Please leave a review letting me know your thoughts!**

 **As for when I'll update: as of right now I'm just going to say that I'll update when I can. I'm finishing up a semester of school right now, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write. Since I only started writing this story last week (unlike my other new story, _The Lucky One_ , which I started a WHILE ago and therefore have a few chapters ready to post during this busy end-of-semester time), I haven't had the chance to get super ahead on writing. I do have chapter two started, and I HOPE to update once a week...but I don't want to promise just yet. We shall see. That said, please know that I'll be working on this story as much as I can so I don't leave y'all hanging - and if I ever DO take a good while to update, rest assured that I will not abandon Anna Begins. Sometimes I just need time.**

 **And that's it for now! Thank you so much for checking out my story, and I hope you enjoyed this first chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there, friends! Wow. That first chapter got a lot of attention. Thank y'all so much. Your follows and favs and reviews make me beyond happy. I hope you enjoy the second chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

 _Anna_

The next day was still full of trying to get organized, but we carved out a little time in the morning to go to the high school and get registered. It was an odd time in the school year to transfer—April began in barely a week—but since we'd moved out of state, it wasn't like we could continue going to our old school and simply commute. If not for Grandpa needing us closer so badly, we would have waited till the summer to move.

Mom explained that to the office lady, Ms. Cope, who'd began the conversation looking judgmental but was now appearing sympathetic. Alex fidgeted in his seat next to me, not because he was nervous but because he sucked at sitting still. I, on the other hand, could imitate a statue.

"Thank you so much!" Mom said, walking over to my brother and me with two clipboards in her hands. She handed one to each of us. "Fill out your preferences here, guys. No promises you'll get exactly what you want, but it can't hurt to be thorough, yeah? Be sure to include alternatives." Then she went back up to the desk to chat with Ms. Cope as she filled out whatever forms she needed to.

Alex nudged me with his elbow. "Hey, Annie, look. We get to do gym all four years here."

"What?" I said, reading through the required classes more thoroughly. He was right. "Great."

"About makes up for most likely losing that cool history class I was taking!" he said happily. Only Alex would sound _happy_ about extra PE classes.

I scoffed. "I hate gym."

He snickered. "You hate most things."

I had to smile at that, just a little. "Shut up."

We both kept to ourselves as we filled out the rest of our forms after that, Alex kindly bringing them over to Mom and Ms. Cope…after I elbowed him in the ribs. Twice. He was better for the task anyway; talking to strangers was his forte—his personality was practically made for it.

"Come over here, Anna," Mom called a minute later, waving me over with a smile. At least she didn't hold my aversion to social interaction against me. "Ms. Cope's printing out your class list now. You can look over it real quick to make sure it looks alright."

Biting my lip, I walked over and took the piece of paper the lady held out to me once it finished printing. I gave it a glance. All the basic stuff was there: math (calculus), science (physics), English, and social studies (government). I was mildly surprised they even offered a calculus course here, so I took a moment to be glad for that. But then I checked out my electives, which were mostly okay—PE, Spanish, psychology—until I got to the last one: art.

And I'd thought getting stuck in more PE was a bummer. I was terrible at art.

But it wasn't like I had much choice. We were dropping into this school less than three months before the school year ended; all the other classes were likely full. I needed to be grateful I landed in psychology. Psychology was cool. And however many weeks of art class wouldn't kill me. It'd suck, but that was life.

Repressing a sigh, I handed the paper back. "Looks good to me." Alex did the same.

Ms. Cope smiled. "Perfect! We'll get this all in the system, and then when you two come in tomorrow just be sure to stop by here to pick up your schedules."

I nearly gaped. We were starting school tomorrow? How had I missed that?

Luckily Mom was used to me remaining silent in situations such as these—where people would normally have to, you know, talk—so she returned Ms. Cope's smile and thanked her. Alex chimed in with the same, promising we'd see her bright and early the next morning.

And then we were outside, back in the brisk spring air. I pulled in a deep breath as we walked to the car, relishing the light breeze. I'd felt uncomfortable in the office, but just how tense my body had gotten wasn't clear until now, once we were outside and I could fully breathe again. Alex noticed the long breaths I was taking and asked, "You okay, Annie?"

Releasing my current breath, I nodded. "Yeah. The fresh air is nice."

He didn't look like he entirely believed me. Even though he was the little brother and I was supposed to look after him, he tended to keep an eye out for me. I knew he worried. About what, exactly, I wasn't quite sure. But sometimes he looked at me oddly and I got a hunch that he was keeping an extra close watch on me for…something. Like now. It was like he suspected I'd been coming out of my skin in that room.

"That's all?" His gaze dared me to lie.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Al, that is all. Chill out, yeah?"

His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, but before he could voice his retort Mom said, "Okay, you two, let's get going. We'll grab some lunch on the way home. We need to kick it into gear today to get as much set up as possible with you guys starting school and your father starting work tomorrow."

"When are we going to drop in to see Gramps?" Alex asked, sliding into the backseat of the car.

Mom started the car. "I'll go see him tomorrow. After that, we'll figure it out to fit in with school and work so he doesn't have to be alone so much." Grandpa lived in the tiny retirement village in Forks. Well, it was called a "village" but really it was a small apartment complex with extra amenities. He'd been lonely since Grandma died, and his own health wasn't too great. While he didn't need much help around, since he had people in the village for that, we wanted to give him more companionship.

And there was the fact that Mom and Dad worried he was going to follow my grandmother's lead in the near future and wanted to make the best of the time we had left. Not that they'd said that to Alex and me, but we weren't stupid. We also weren't arguing.

"Maybe we can go visit him after school too?" I suggested.

Mom smiled gently. "No, sweetie. After school you need to get home and help us finish getting sorted. I know I'm being hard about this, but the sooner we get settled, the sooner we can relax and feel at home. Especially if I find a job anytime soon—it'd be better to already have everything done so we wouldn't have another thing to worry about, don't you think?" That was Mom, ever the go-getter.

"Okay," I agreed. "But tell him hi for me."

"Of course," she promised. "I'll give him a big hug and everything."

I nodded, peering out the window. Unsurprisingly, it had started raining. I liked it. Rain was my second favorite weather next to snow. Watching the drops glide down the glass, I tried to focus on anything but the fact that in twenty-four hours I was going to be in a school full of people I'd never met. A school full of people who were likely going to stare at me. And try to talk to me. And think I was weird when I didn't fall into conversation easily.

A grim smile tilted my lips up the barest bit. I wondered how long it'd take someone to call me a bitch.

* * *

 _Paul_

Walking into Sam and Emily's house after my patrol shift, I smelled what could only be lasagna. Hopefully she made enough because there was no way I could leave before I devoured some. I headed straight for the kitchen, ignoring Embry and Quil in the living room.

"…if I made it weird or what," Felicity was saying as I entered the room.

I slid into the chair next to her, Jacob of course on her other side. He shook his head. "Maybe she's really bad with new people."

"Hold up," I said, lifting my hands in a _stop_ motion. "First of all, Emily."

She turned to look at me from where she was stirring something on the stove. "Yes, Paul?"

"You look lovely today. Has anyone told you? Just absolutely beautiful."

Emily laughed. "Wow, Paul, what a kind thing to say to someone who refuses to give you any of the lasagna currently in the oven."

I gasped, pressing my fist to my chest. "Why would you be so hurtful?"

She pointed to the microwave. "You can have some that's staying warm in there, though. Just wait until the rest is done so everyone can eat together."

A grin overtook my face. "You're the nicest person in the whole entire world."

"You're ridiculous."

"Thank you. Now," I looked at Felicity, "what are you talking about, doll? What weird thing happened? Do I need to beat someone's ass? Because I'll do it, no questions asked. Just say the word."

She snorted. "No. Not that serious."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure." She sighed. "I saw the girl who moved in the other day. Her and her brother and mom, actually."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned back in my chair. "And it was weird? Bummer. Maybe it's a sign that I'm the best of best friends and you shouldn't try to replace me."

Felicity rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, as if giving herself a moment to control her irritation before continuing. It was cute. She looked back at me, shaking her head. "They were super nice. We even have a standing invitation to dinner once they get settled in."

Smirking, I arched my brows. "They invited me to dinner?"

"Me and you and Jacob. And you two are going to have _polite_ portions, not everything they lay out on the table." She said "you two," but her eyes were narrowed on me.

"I'm always polite," I said as innocently as possible—which wasn't very innocent at all since I couldn't keep from snickering.

Felicity called me out. "You're a liar."

Sam walked into the room, pausing to eye Felicity, Jacob, and me at the table before shaking his head and making his way over to Emily, kissing both of her cheeks before her lips. Same greeting every time. It was sickening how sweet those two were. "We heard from Charlie Swan today," he announced.

Instantly, we all became alert. Quil and Embry stood in the doorway. I sat up straight in my chair. Jacob's hand slipped over Felicity's on the table. Emily stopped her stirring. We watched Sam, waiting for more information.

"I guess Isabella has been keeping in contact with him, making some excuse of needing time away because she really hates Forks. But Charlie is worried since her leaving was so abrupt and he knows the Cullens are gone too. Called Billy wanting to know if he'd seen her or had any idea of where she was. Obviously, the answer was no. But Billy told Charlie to let him know if he catches wind of anything."

"If we find out where they are…" Jacob began, a growl rumbling in his chest.

Sam nodded. "They broke the Treaty."

Felicity frowned. "Wait, what?"

Jacob's growl cut off and he rubbed her hand soothingly. "Remember how we told you about the truce we had with them since they don't drink from humans? They keep to their land, don't bite any humans, and don't harm our tribe."

"Right…" Felicity said, but she clearly was still not getting it.

"You're part of the tribe now, doll," I said, leaning back in my seat again. I wasn't as relaxed as before, not after this topic had come up, but I could pretend. "Honorarily, thanks to the imprint thing."

She blinked. "Oh. Wow."

Jacob smiled. "Is that a good wow or a bad wow."

She gave a weak smile back, obviously flustered. "Good. Definitely good. That's so cool."

"I don't know how you can be surprised," Sam said, his tone kind a laced with humor. "Have we not made it obvious enough that we'll protect you as if you're one of the pack?"

Felicity looked like a deer in the headlights. "No! I mean, yes! You guys have been—"

"He's kidding," Jacob said, trying not to laugh and completely failing.

"So what back to what I wanted to know before Sam so rudely entered his own home and interrupted, what weird happened earlier? Not the invitation to dinner, I hope. That would be such a let down of a story."

She put her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand. "No, it wasn't the dinner thing. Like I said, they were really nice. The mom's name is Colleen. And there's a teenage boy named Alex. Both of them were pretty chatty, but not in an overbearing way. It was just…nice."

"Okay…" I urged her to get to the good part.

"But then they went into the apartment and I was left in the hallway with the girl, Anna. Turns out they start at the high school tomorrow, so I was trying to talk about that. Compare classes and whatnot, you know?"

I nodded. "Right."

Felicity pursed her lips, appearing reluctant to continue. "And I guess she's at least in my art class. I tried to talk about how we're working with watercolor right now and how the teacher is fun, but at the first opening she ducked out of the conversation."

I squinted, tipping my head to the side. "What?"

"Like, the first chance she got, she said she had to go and then went inside, leaving me in the hallway by myself." She paused, scratching the back of her neck before resting her chin on her hand again. "She wasn't super rude or anything, like she said excuse me and goodbye and she hoped I had a good day, but it was so sudden. And, well, _weird_."

Jacob shook his head. "I think she's just shy or something. It can't be anything you did."

She turned to peer over at him. "You don't think I seemed stalkerish?"

He snorted. "No. It was natural conversation. It wasn't like you tracked her down or hired a private investigator or whatever. You bumped into them in the hallway and made conversation. That's normal."

"I hate to say it," I chimed in, "but lover boy over there is right, doll. Nothing weird coming from your end."

"So what do you think the issue was, Paulie?" Felicity asked, her eyes wide and serious. Damn, she really wanted to hit it off with this girl. I didn't quite understand her need for another friend—like, I didn't get it _at all_ —but it sucked that she wanted it so badly and the chick was so unreceptive. How could anyone not like Felicity? The girl fucking oozed friendliness.

Sitting up so I could imitate how she sat against the table, my chin resting in my hand, I smiled. "You know what I think?"

A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "What?"

"Weeeeellllll," I said, drawing it out. "Sounds to me like she's a bitch."

* * *

 **What do you think, lovely people? I'd love if you left a review letting me know!**

 **Also, small life update: finals are just about to start for me. So I'm in study mode now until mid next week. After that, I should have more time to write and be able to settle into an actual regular update schedule for this story! Thanks for bearing with me in the meantime, friends. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, friends! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, but as I said, I was finishing up a semester of school. So much studying and freaking out and blah blah blah. But that's over for the summer! Now I'm aiming to commit to an update schedule to the best of my ability - Thursday/Friday. (Yes, I choose two days to give myself a little breathing room. Ha.)**

 **Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has been reviewing this story. Honestly, y'all are the best. Thank you also to everyone who's been favoriting and following. And to everyone that is reading this story. Thank you, thank you.**

 **Now, I shall leave you with the update. I hope you like it! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

 _Anna_

The day hadn't even started yet and I could already tell that attending Forks High School was going to be just as brutal as I imagined. Alex and I walked over to the office from the parking lot and eyes were on us the entire way. It felt like every single student in the school had nothing better to do than ogle us. Ducking into the office was actually a reprieve—until we were faced with a bright and smiley Ms. Cope.

"Hello, ma'am," Alex greeted her, striding ahead of me with a grin. "We're here to pick up our schedules, just like we planned."

"Good morning!" Ms. Cope exclaimed, rooting through papers on her desk. How the space was already so disorderly this early in the morning was a mystery. "I have your schedules somewhere around here…aha! Here they are. One for Alex Judge, and one for Anna Judge." She handed us each our schedules in turn. "And here's a form for you both to have your teachers sign when you attend each class. Just to make sure you're on the rosters and such—make sure to swing by again at the end of the day and drop them off. Do you think you need a map?"

I would have appreciated a map, since the idea of asking another student for help finding where I needed to go practically gave me hives. But Alex said, "No thank you, we're good. See you later today!" and there was no way I was going to ask for a map myself. I refrained from slapping my brother as we left the office, but as soon as we were outside I spun on him with a glare.

"You should have accepted the map!" I hissed, trying to keep my voice down.

He huffed. "You should have warned me. Or asked for one yourself. Ms. Cope is a nice lady, she would have given it to you."

My lips pursed. "Really, Alex?"

His eyes widened. "I know, I know, you were uncomfortable but you can't blame me for not being able to read your mind and know you wanted a map!"

I sighed. He had a point. I was officially stressing the fuck out, but I couldn't blame that on him. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he accepted my apology easily. "Want me to go back in and get you one? It'd only take a second."

"No." I shook my head. "It's fine. It's such a small school, it can't be that tough, right?" Plus, he'd probably explain that I was the one who sent him back in there for a map and I'd be so embarrassed—not that he'd have tried to embarrass me, he was just so chatty he'd undoubtedly bring it up.

He lifted his schedule to glance over it and I did the same. "Where do you need to be?" he asked. "I start the day with pre-calc. Ugh. Building 3."

"I have Spanish in Building 5. Think that means we're heading in the right direction?"

Alex looked around, studying the building the office was in, the parking lot, and the next building over. "Well, it looks like this is Building 1. So I'm guessing we're both going to head that way," he pointed to the next building over, "and the buildings will go up from there?"

Sounded logical. "Okay. Let's go."

We both headed toward the next building which was, in fact, Building 2. And the next was Building 3. Which meant this was where we parted ways. Alex turned to me, dropping a hand on my shoulder and squeezing. "You'll be fine. Just keep going that way and I'm sure you'll find your building, and then I'll see you at lunch. We can sit together if you want."

I didn't respond to the lunch offer because while it could have been comforting to know I wouldn't have to sit alone, it was also very likely that he'd make friends between now and then. Which meant he'd get invited to sit somewhere, then mention that he had a sister who needed somewhere to sit too. I'd end up with both a pity seat and a lunch full of awkward social interaction. "See you later," I said. "Make good choices."

Alex smiled. "I'll try." He turned and entered the building.

Now alone, I took a deep breath. The air was much more stifling that it had been the day before after leaving the office. I suspected this had less to do with the actual air and more to do with the fact that I was borderline freaking out. But I had no choice—I had to fake it till I made it. Not an ounce of confidence was within me, but I proceeded past Building 3 as if I knew exactly where I was going. As if I'd walked this campus for the past year.

That facade of confidence shattered within me when I got the to next building and saw that Building 4 was the last one down the line Alex and I had been walking. How was that possible? They couldn't put classes in Building 6 but only go up to Building 4.

"Hey! You're new, right?" a girl asked, stopping a few feet away from me. Her eyes were keen on me, sizing me up.

I was on the verge of an internal melt down so the last thing I wanted to do was chat it up with a stranger, but it wasn't like I could duck away. I didn't even know where I was going. "Yes," I said, my voice low, almost sounding kind of strangled.

"I'm Jessica. Where are you headed?" She smiled, but it seemed…fake. Plastic. Pasted on to look nice while everyone was watching us—because of course our peers were still keeping track of my every move.

"Um…" I fumbled with my schedule, checking it again as if I didn't already know where I was going. "Spanish. In Building 6?" I asked, like maybe the paper in front of me was lying and my Spanish class didn't really exist.

She nodded. "Oh! Well, you're going in the right direction. If you go around Building 4 you'll find Building 5, and then 6 is right there. The gym and cafeteria are over that way too." She gestured to a path that did indeed cut around Building 4. Maybe if I had taken a moment to calm myself down I would have found it myself.

"Thank you," I said sincerely, moving to walk down the path.

"Wait!" she called. I turned and looked at her. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

Biting my lip, I retraced my steps to stand back near her. "I'm Anna."

Jessica smiled, her gaze on me eager. "Let me see your schedule. Maybe we'll have some classes together. We can be friends."

Her hand was held out for me to give her the paper, but honestly…I didn't want to. She gave me such an insincere vibe. And the way her eyes flickered around, tallying all the others that watched us made me uncomfortable.

"I actually need to get to class, but maybe I'll see you later?" I said hurriedly, walking down the path again. "But really," I called behind me as I went, "thank you so much for your help!" I ignored her protests at my departure and made my way to Building 6. Good thing too because I made it just in time for the bell to ring. I introduced myself to the teacher as quietly as I could, knowing the entire class was paying close attention. Luckily, the teacher signed my slip quickly then directed me to a seat toward the back of the room, handing me a textbook as she started her lecture. Eyes were on me the entire class period, but it became easier to ignore as I focused on what the teacher was saying.

When the bell rang, I gathered my things quickly and rushed out of the room before any of my peers could attempt to start conversation with me. The interaction with Jessica was enough for now.

I made it through my next couple of classes without speaking to anyone but the teachers. It was in my class right before lunch that broke my streak—gym class. While I stood against the wall waiting for Coach to begin class, a boy walked up to me. He got close before leaning his shoulder next to my body, a smile that I figured he thought was smooth but was actually sleazy on his face. "Hey, there."

Blinking at him, I said, "Hi."

"You're new."

There was really no way to respond to that, so I just continued to stare at him.

"I'm Tyler."

Did I want to talk to him? Tell him my name? No. But would he find out anyway? In this small school, definitely. But I wasn't eager to encourage him, and he seemed like the type to take any response as encouraging.

So I remained silent.

"Can you hear me?" he asked, beginning to sound impatient as he leaned close to my face. I couldn't avoid looking at him now but I refused to meet his eyes. "Are you fucking deaf or something?"

"Anna!" an over-enthusiastic voice called. A hand came into view between my face and Tyler's; he was so surprised he allowed himself to get pushed backward by Felicity edging in between us. "I've been on the lookout for you all day. I'm so glad we have a class together!"

She seemed to be ignoring Tyler in his entirety, so I did the same. "It's nice to see you." It was the most honest thing I'd said all day.

"Come on," she said, grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the bleachers. "Let's go sit and you can tell me about your day so far."

Just like I'd refused to look at him when he was in my face, I would _not_ glance back to see Tyler's expression as we walked away. Instead, I just breathed deep in relief. "Thank you," I whispered to her as we took seats.

Her eyes met mine and her fingers squeezed mine. "He's an ass."

She was not wrong. I nodded.

"So," she said, her tone back to light, "tell me about your first few classes."

I was so glad that she'd helped me, and she was being so darn nice, that I did what she asked. Throughout the gym period as we jogged and kicked a soccerball back and forth, I told her how my day had been going. She input her own commentary along the way. And when I was done, I told her what classes I had next—it turned out we had art together later in the day. As we left the gym to head to lunch, she asked if I wanted to sit with her.

Biting my lip, I was tempted to say no. I'd been mostly okay during this past class period—though I'd had awkward pauses and silences and word choices, but she either ignored them or didn't notice them in the first place. Carrying this over into a full lunch would give more opportunity to mess up. Then she'd realize I was freaking weird and terrible at socially interacting and likely never talk to me again. Perhaps playing it safe and sitting with Alex would be better.

But for some reason, I didn't turn her down. I nodded. Though I did speak the caveat, "I might need to go sit with my brother if he hasn't found anyone yet, though." Unlikely, but it was a way out if I needed it.

Felicity smiled. "He can sit with us if he wants to. I don't really have any friends here so it's just me anyway."

My jaw nearly dropped. I definitely stopped walking. "Seriously?"

It took her a second to realize I wasn't next to her anymore. From a few steps ahead, she turned to face me. "What?"

"How do you not have any friends? You're nice. And…" I searched for another fitting adjective. "Bubbly."

She laughed. "I have friends. But they live in La Push. My friends in Forks…well." She sighed. "They aren't exactly what I'd call friends anymore. It's a long story that I'm sure I'll get to telling soon. But for now, please come sit with me at lunch?"

"Yes," I said with certainty this time. It was practically a crime that she usually sat alone. I was an odd girl out by nature, but Felicity? She deserved better.

We walked to lunch, finding Alex standing outside the cafeteria. His eyes latched onto me when we entered the hall, and his brows arched as he saw I was not alone. A smile took over his face when we got close. "You having a good day, sis?" he asked, sounding pleased.

I held back an eye roll. He was trying to be supportive. I couldn't fault him for that. "No. But it's not the worst day either."

His grin stretched wider, apparently thinking I was full of shit. Which I kind of was, but I also wasn't—the first few periods of the day hadn't been anything to write home about, and I knew he'd blow a gasket when he heard about what happened with Tyler in gym. I was mildly surprised he hadn't heard about that already, actually. I chalked it up to him being so new he hadn't weeded his way in with the most informed kids at the school yet. "Nice to see you again, Felicity," he said.

She smiled. "You too. Felicity said she'd sit with me in there, and we were wondering if you wanted to join us?"

Alex's gaze cut to me, measuring up whether or not I truly wished to sit with her. Sometimes I got roped into stuff, and he wanted to make sure this wasn't one of them. My annoyance at his smug tone before evaporated; he was such a good brother. I gave him a small smile.

He shook his head at Felicity. "Nah, I'm good. I've met some people in a couple of my classes that I'm going to sit with. Just wanted to check in with Anna Banana here before going in. All good, Annie? See you later?"

I nodded. "Yeah. See you later."

He reached out and pushed my shoulder gently, then turned and entered the cafeteria. Felicity and I followed him. Inside, though, he veered left and we went right, claiming an empty table not too far from the door.

"Did you bring food or are you buying from the lunch line?" Felicity asked when we were situated.

I dug through my bag, pulling out my small bag of chips I brought from home and my half-empty water bottle I'd been sipping from all morning. "I've got this. Not really up for anything else."

She sized it up uncertainly. "Are you sure?"

I nodded, not particularly wishing to explain my finicky appetite. "So you have friends in La Push. Tell me about them."

Her eyes lit up, and she launched into a literal lunch period full of talk about her La Push friends. It was honestly perfect—she was so into the topic that I barely had to input into the conversation, aside from basic questions and bare minimum commentary. She told me about her boyfriend, Jacob. And their friends Sam and Emily. And her stepbrother Kai, and how they had a rocky past but were working on rebuilding their relationship. And multiple other people whom I forgot the names of but all sounded kind and fun. She also briefly mentioned her ex, Elijah, and his new girlfriend. She didn't go into detail, however, claiming that she didn't want to bring down the conversation. I didn't argue.

In all her stories and descriptions, I was most interested in her friend and roommate. Paul. For some reason I clung to his name and everything she said about him with a sort of…relevance. The sensation was strange. It was not out of the ordinary for me to get into people I never had a hope of being friends with—even though I was anxious and introverted, I greatly desired to have strong connections with other people. I didn't have the ability or opportunity to pursue that, so I simply imagined.

But normally this started after I saw or met someone. Not only after hearing someone talk about them.

If I was already so hung up on Paul now, I wondered how interested in him I'd be once we finally met—which was inevitable, seeing as he lived in my building and we now shared the mutual friend of Felicity.

My thoughts halted for a moment. Friend. Felicity was my friend? It occurred to me suddenly that she _was_. I'd made a friend. There was still time for her to decide she wanted nothing to do with me, there was always time for that, but for now it was my first day at a new school and I had a friend. That was more than I could say for myself when I was back in Colorado.

Wow. Maybe life in Forks would turn out even _better_ than I'd anticipated. I hoped I could be so lucky.

* * *

 **And that's it for this chapter! I apologize for the lack of Paul - Anna's portion of the chapter got so long I decided there was no way to put anything meaningful for Paul in this one. He'll definitely be in the next chapter, though, don't you worry! And in the meantime until y'all get your Paul fix, maybe you could leave me a review letting me know your thoughts? Do you like Anna? I'm loving writing her. And what do you think of the sibling dynamic between Anna and Alex? Please, please, let me know! I hope you all have a great week! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, lovely friends! I apologize for the delay with this chapter. Once the semester ended, instead of going on a writing binge...well, I went on a reading binge. But my writing inspiration is coming back (kind of full force - I've already written chapter 5 & started chapter 6) so I'm baaaaack! Sorry for disappearing for any span of time ever. But I really hate forcing these stories out. I'd rather wait until I'm into it so I can enjoy writing as much as y'all (hopefully) enjoy reading. **

**But anyway! Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed. It's so appreciated.**

 **Okay, I'll leave you to read the chapter now. I hope you like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 _Paul_

Though the Cullens had disappeared, they'd left their fucking problems behind—evidenced by the fact that the redhead was back. We'd suspected for the past couple of days, but last night Quil saw her while we were patrolling. She disappeared before I could get over there, but the scent was strong, fresh. Now Sam was back to being overcautious with patrols. Three at a time for maximum coverage, since we had to expand a bit into Forks for Felicity.

Normally I'd be all for it. Felicity's safety was important. The safety of everyone on the rez was important.

But shit, I'd had to run an extra shift and I was bone tired.

Finally entering our apartment building, I rounded a corner to find Felicity chattering away. No one was responding, but she was standing in front of an open door so I assumed someone had to be there. I headed that way, catching a whiff of a scent…a very pleasing scent, honestly. If I weren't so tired maybe I would have taken a second to consider _why_. But I'd gotten zero sleep since waking up yesterday morning and it was well into the afternoon and all I wanted was to check up on Felicity and get to my bed to take a nap before dinner so I didn't take a single second to consider a single thing.

I said, "What are you up to, doll?"

Felicity halted her chattering, turning to smile at me. "Paul! Come meet my new friend—" she paused. "Are you okay?"

Waving my hand, I scoffed. "Nothing a little sleep can't handle. What's that about a new friend? I thought we discussed this. I'm friend enough. Not gonna find better. Especially not in some bitchy girl who's going to be all drama and not even talk to you."

I'd meant it to be a joke. Like, _ha-ha your first interaction didn_ _'t go well so I'm going to pick some fun at it while everyone gets comfortable with each other._ But my tired ass had lost its filter—and with it, any ability to make a proper joke. Which of course I did not realize until after the words came out of my mouth and whoever Felicity was talking to, that new girl, gasped.

"Paul!" Felicity yelled just as I got close enough to see who she'd been talking to.

Wide, honey brown eyes met mine.

And I felt my entire world shift.

Was I breathing? I wasn't moving, I was frozen, I couldn't stop staring. But was I breathing? Yes. I pulled in a deep breath. I had to breathe, I had to keep breathing for _her_.

 _For her_.

As I stood there, eyes on her, trying to catch my bearings, she blinked. Went pale. Then she looked away—at someone else? Was someone else here?—and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'll see you later." Her gaze moved to the floor, to her feet, and she shut the door in my face.

Shocked to my core at what was happening right now, I just stood there watching her door. I heard her on the other side, breathing fast. But it didn't last for long. A few seconds later, she moved away. But her breathing hadn't slowed, it'd gone faster. She was upset.

I didn't want her to be upset. I needed to help her. Needed to make sure she was okay, and if she wasn't I needed to fix it.

My hand stretched out, aiming for the doorknob.

A small, pale hand slapped my wrist. It didn't hurt, but it startled me enough to glance over at…Felicity. Oh yeah. Felicity was here. That must have been who the girl was talking to.

"What are you doing, you asshole?" Felicity asked, her tone so, so angry.

And just like that the whole situation flooded back into my mind. What I'd said. What had happened when our eyes met. " _Shit_ ," I hissed.

"Yeah, Paul, shit. What is wrong with you?" Felicity was mad, and she had every right to be, but I was…I was floored. My shoulders slumped and I leaned over against the wall. "Wait, really, what's wrong?" She sounded concerned now.

Running a hand through my hair, I let out a weak chuckle. It sounded tired and defeated. Exactly how I was feeling. "Doll…I fucked up."

Her brow furrowed. "Are we talking about the same thing right now? Or are you still upset over being tired? I'm confused."

Pushing away from the wall, I met her eyes. "I was a fucking dick to that girl, right?"

"I mean…yeah," she said hesitantly. "And she's really just super shy, Paul. She's not like you were trying to say—"

I held up my hand, cutting her off. "I was a dick. She's upset. She's probably going to hate me."

Her lips pursed. "I don't know if she'll _hate_ you."

"This fucking sucks."

"What fucking sucks?" Jacob asked, sticking his head out of the door to mine and Felicity's apartment. Though at this rate we might as well call it his too since he was there all the damn time. He'd been added on shift last night for a bit and had probably slept most of the day away.

"Yeah, why does it suck? What's the big deal? Apologize and it'll be fine."

I didn't want to have this conversation out in the hallway. Heading toward Jake, I slipped around him into the apartment and stretched out on the couch, my arm over my eyes. I heard him and Felicity whispering away, getting him up to speed. As if it was any surprise to anyone that I'd acted like an asshole. These were my friends—they knew me.

But she didn't. And I hadn't worded it tactfully at all. It was a shitty joke even to the people who knew me. There was really no way to spin it into something that could have been nice and friendly.

"Okay…" Jake said slowly, now sitting in a chair. "So you said something stupid. Why are you freaking out? Say sorry. Be careful what you say from now on. What's the big deal."

I snarled, popping up in my seat and glaring. "The _big deal_ ," I bit out, "is that she's my imprint."

The admission made both of them pause. They shared a look. Then Felicity said, "It'll be fine. I'll talk to her. I talked with her a whole bunch today, and I think she's cool with me. Like I said, she's really shy, but she's not rude or anything. I'm sure she won't hold it against you."

While Felicity's words held merit, I knew they did, I also had a feeling that it wasn't going to be so easy. That our first interaction was going to stick. My mind played the sound of her quick breathing on repeat—she'd clearly been upset. What I'd said had not only been fucking _mean_ , but I'd hit a soft spot. Just the thought made me itch to go over there and try to make it up to her.

"Paul," Jake said, voice calm and demanding. "Go take a nap. Then we'll go over to Sam and Emily's for dinner. Maybe they'll have some more advice to give."

Immediately I shook my head. "No. I'm not turning this into the newest pack gossip. Fuck no." I'd gained some ground when Felicity came into the fold, since we were so tight and I'd helped where Jake had been an idiot, but it would still be so easy for them to go back to labeling me the pack fuckup. Because of course Paul Asshole Lahote would be the one to kick off an imprint relationship with an insult that made the girl run into her house crying.

Shit.

I couldn't help but stand, walking to the door.

"Paul!" Felicity called, but I didn't stop. Jake followed me into the hallway before dropping a hand on my shoulder. He squeezed, his question silent: _What are you doing?_

"She was crying," I forced out.

His hand tightened as he understood. "Then maybe it's best to leave her for a bit to calm down."

I weighed his words. They didn't sound like a bad idea in general, but was it the right way to approach this situation with my imprint? My gut told me it wasn't. I needed to make an effort to fix it with her now.

Shaking my head, I headed toward her door again. "This can't wait. Don't know why, but I have to do something."

"Okay, okay," Felicity said, easing around Jake and toward where I stood about to knock on the door. "At least let me knock and talk—you're a total stranger. I've already met most of the family."

Sighing, I waved a hand toward the door in front of me. "Fine."

* * *

 _Anna_

I'd just regathered myself after hyperventilating in the bathroom when a knock sounded on the front door. Freezing on my way toward my room, I stared in the direction the noise had come from. There was nothing I wanted less than to answer that.

A moment later, Alex slipped out of his room. "Did you hear that knock? Is someone at the door?" He moved around me, pausing to give me a quick glance. Then he stopped. "What's wrong?"

Crap. I did not need Alex getting all protective right now. "Nothing."

His eyes narrowed. "Not nothing. Does it have to do with whoever is at the door? I can talk to them."

Right. Because him talking to people who upset me always went so well. There were multiple reasons why I sucked at making friends—a majority of those were all on me, but a very small one was Alex and his inability to stand by when I got upset. Even if my mind was a mess, making me misunderstand situations. Not everyone who hurt my feelings did so on purpose.

"Annie?" Alex waved his hand in front of my face. "I'm going to get the door."

"Wait!" I said. "Let me not be here when you open it."

He rolled his eyes, heading toward the door. "Hurry then."

I wasted no time going to my room, slipping inside but leaving the door open a crack so I could just barely hear what was happening.

"Oh, hi, Alex!" Felicity's voice said, a little too bright. She was overcompensating. So maybe it wasn't just me this time—I'd been insulted by her friend. "We were actually looking for your sister—"

He interrupted her. "Are you the one who made her cry?" His tone was full of suspicion, and I wondered if that was all for Felicity…or if there was someone at the door with her. There had to be if she'd said _we_ , right? Was she trying to force her friend into apologizing? This whole thing just got more and more embarrassing.

"It was an accidental comment," Felicity began to explain, but then another voice broke in.

"I'm a fucking idiot and said something I thought would be funny. It wasn't. It was just me being an asshole. And now she deserves an apology."

There was silence for a few seconds. Then Alex said, "I'm not going to force her out here to talk to you right now."

The response was instant. "Can you at least ask her if she can listen to me apologize? She's getting it no matter what, it just depends on what she's comfortable with—now or later."

When Alex spoke next, there was…a smile in his voice? "Sure. I can ask. Just a sec." He appeared at my door less than a minute later, smirking as he saw me eavesdropping. "So what say you, Annie? Now or later?"

I frowned. "This is embarrassing."

He shrugged. "I don't know. He seems to genuinely feel bad. He knows he messed up—not that I want to know what he fuckin' said because it'll probably piss me off. But it's obviously not just you. Not that it'd matter if it was; people need to care about how they affect other people. Stop being so selfish all the damn time."

I ignored his mini-rant. I'd heard it before. "I'm a mess right now."

He looked at me skeptically. "You're fine."

"You knew I was crying," I accused.

"I've also known you since forever."

I huffed out a breath. My heart was racing. It meant something that Alex was convinced the guy—Paul, I vaguely remembered Felicity calling him before he'd called me a bitchy drama queen—honestly felt remorse. Alex had superb social skills. He could read people like a book. Unlike me, who was weird and awkward and better off alone most of the time.

Shaking my head, I leaned against the wall. "I can't do it. I know I'm a wimp, but I can't. Not right now."

"You sure?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Maybe I'll get lucky and this will all blow over." And Felicity would forget she ever wanted to be my friend, and I'd never have to see Paul again even though they both lived in my building. And maybe tonight would be the night pigs began to fly.

Alex smiled. "You'll be fine. Just calm down. Let him apologize next time you see him. Then let it go and move on. Be friends with Felicity and settle into tolerating him. Not like anyone is asking you to marry the guy."

A small snort escaped my mouth. Judging by the way Paul had called Felicity _doll_ in the hallway earlier, something told me he was carrying a torch for her. She'd mentioned a boyfriend who was not Paul, so clearly it was unrequited, but that kind of struck out the idea of any sort of romance with Paul. As if I'd have had a chance with him anyway. I snorted again. "Right."

"I'll go tell them. You get to organizing your shit before mom gets home." He strode off toward the living room and instead of listening in this time, I did as he said—organizing and unpacking my new room. I tried to remain wholly focused on my task but it was no use.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the image of Paul's dark, sparkling eyes out of my head.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading! As I said in the beginning A/N, I've already written the next chapter so it'll be up soon. In the meantime, I'd LOVE if you left your thoughts in a review. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, friends! As promised, I'm back in a timely manner with the next chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who's reading and reviewing and favoriting and following. Y'all are the best. I'm not going to drag this one, but I want to say one thing real quick:**

 **I don't abandon stories. If there is ever a point where I decide not to complete a story, I won't leave y'all hanging. I'll make a note, then take the story down after a fair amount of time. I've done this twice before, in my beginner days of posting. I put a lot more thought into which stories I choose to begin posting now, so I don't foresee myself discontinuing anything I've got going right now. Sometimes, however, I DO kind of drop off the ff grid. Because, you know, life. But please know that when I do this, I WILL be back and I WILL complete my stories. It just takes time. I've got multiple stories going on and I don't always balance work between them well (see: my poor Secret Circle fic I haven't had the time to write for in a WHILE), along with school and work and blah blah blah I'm boring myself. Y'all get the point. I appreciate you so much for caring about my story(ies) enough to worry about them getting abandoned. I appreciate it so much, I just want to put your mind at ease. :)**

 **Now, on to the chapter. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

 _Anna_

I was all kinds of twitchy the next day, my eyes swiveling everywhere trying to see if Felicity was anywhere around as Alex and I walked through campus. It'd been over twelve hours. I'd slept on it. I was ready to pretend the whole thing with her friend never happened. But I figured the odds of her doing the same were slim to none, so I wanted to avoid that confrontation as long as possible.

"You're ridiculous," Alex muttered, a small smile on his lips.

I scoffed at him. "No one asked you."

His smile grew, then something caught his eye to my side. I was about to look over when he said, "Hey, _Felicity_."

I jumped practically an entire foot off the ground, spinning in the direction he was looking. Of course there was no one there. "You're an asshole."

"Love you, too, sis," he laughed. "But really, she's nice. Not like she's going to bitch you out for something her friend said. She'll probably apologize, then want to move on just as much as you do. Don't worry so much."

If only it were as easy as not _worrying so much_. I couldn't control how my brain worked. How anxious this made me. How nervous. If I could simply decide to get over it and that actually work, I'd have done so in a heartbeat. But that wasn't the way I was.

So when we parted ways, I was still fidgeting away trying to appear calm while also keeping as aware of my surroundings as possible. This worked well enough for me for the beginning of the day—until I had to go to gym. Which I shared with Felicity. And where we'd probably end up partnering up for some sort of sporty activity, thus leaving lots of time to chat. For her to bring up the day before.

My stomach churned as I walked reluctantly into the gym. I quickly dressed out and went into the gym without seeing her.

But as I sat against the wall, she finally appeared.

And walked straight toward me.

 _Please, please, please don_ _'t throw up,_ I thought to myself as my stomach flipped. I hated this. It wasn't even that serious. My reaction was stupid. Alex was right, I was ridiculous. But I felt sick anyway, and now I was sweating. I pulled in a deep breath.

"Hey, Anna," Felicity said as I blew out a big gust of air.

"Hey," I said quietly, unable to manage anything more.

Apparently she took my response to set the tone of my mood toward her, as opposed to my overwhelming anxiety for the situation. Logical, since she didn't know me at all. She rushed out, "Anna, I am so sorry. Paul…he was tired. He wasn't thinking. He'd just got done with a double shift and was practically dead on his feet. And, well, if you knew Paul you'd probably understand better. But he's crass on a good day. Bone tired the way he was? He had no filter. Didn't think his words through. And he knows it—he knows he said something stupid and he's sorry. I swear, Anna, he's so sorry. That's why we tried to talk to you yesterday." She paused, pulling in a deep breath as her eyes widened. "Not that we hold it against you that you didn't want to. We get it, and you had every right to be upset." She paused again. "Not that you need my validation for your feelings, or anyone's…I'm making a mess of this."

Somehow her rambling did what I didn't think was possible—it calmed me down. I even let out a short, relieved giggle. "It's really not a big deal. I overreacted."

She shook her head immediately. "No. You didn't. He was a jerk. And he knows it. He wants to apologize to you, as soon as you're comfortable with it." She bit her lip. "Though he'd probably appreciate it being sooner rather than later. He feels terrible."

Now it was my turn to shake my head. "It's really not necessary. All I want is to forget the whole thing ever happened, honestly."

"I get that. But could you just let him apologize real quick? Like, it can be a short sorry and then we'll all move on and hang out and eat food or watch TV or play games or whatever to show we can get along without anyone being overtly rude."

I blinked. That seemed like a very mixed sentence. When did I agree to hanging out? And why did an apology automatically equal all that extra? "You want to hang out with me?" I couldn't remember the last time someone had asked me to spend time with them outside of school for anything other than a school project—or trying to get my brother somewhere by tagging along with me. Not that the latter tactic ever worked, but whatever.

She blushed. "Wow, I didn't even really ask, did I? I just assumed. Would you hang out with me later? Full disclosure, my boyfriend will be there. And Paul, since he's my roommate so I can't really kick him out."

This was so strange. I didn't know how to respond. My palms began to sweat again. "I don't know…"

"Everyone will be nice, I promise!" she said enthusiastically. "I don't want to sound desperate, but…I kind of am. With all my drama at this school, I don't have many friends. I just have Jacob and Paul and all _their_ friends. And they're all great. I just…"

"Want a friend of your own," I finished. I could understand that. Not only could I understand that—I _lived_ that. I'd just never had the guts to do anything about it. But here Felicity was, putting herself out there. Because, for whatever reason, she wanted to be friends with me. "Okay, I'll hang out with you and your friends." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I backtracked. "Oh, wait. I can't today. We're going to have dinner at my grandpa's. I can't really back out of that." Nor did I want to, but that was neither here nor there. "Could we do it tomorrow?"

She nodded before I was even done with the question. "Totally! Tomorrow! It'll be great!"

I smiled slightly in response as the teacher finally got class started, hoping Felicity was right.

* * *

 _Paul_

After spending the day running patrol with Leah and Kai—and somehow managing not to spill the beans on my new imprint—I paced the living room of the apartment waiting for Felicity to get home. Since when did it take her so long to get back from school? Was she taking extra time just to drive me mad?

"Chill, dude," Jake said as he stumbled into the living room from the kitchen. He'd emerged from Felicity's room a few minutes ago and ran into two walls on his way to acquiring the bag of Doritos he was currently stuffing blindly into his mouth. He settled onto the couch with his eyes still closed. "Imprints are meant to work out. It'll be fine."

Easy for him to say. He was on the verge of domestic bliss with his imprint. You know, if only they would admit they were _in love_ and needed to take it to the next level. The most the two did was hold hands, hug, and place the smallest kisses on each other's mouths. With how attached at the hip those two were most of the time, it was surprising their strategy of taking it slow remained in place.

But whatever. Their relationship, their decisions, their problems. I had my own shit to worry about.

With that thought, Felicity finally slipped through the door. Her gaze immediately went to Jake, whose eyes were now open and warm on her. "Hey, you," she said softly. "You come here to sleep?"

He smiled. "Yeah. I'm on again later tonight."

She sighed as she set her backpack down next to the couch. "I hope this vampire problem gets resolved soon. Losing so much sleep isn't good for you."

He twined his non-cheesy fingers through hers. "This situation is exactly why we exist. We're built for it. Don't worry about me."

"Hard not to," she murmured, her free hand rising to trace a dark circle under one of his eyes.

I cleared my throat. Loudly. "Hi. Remember me? Best friend and badass roommate? I'm here and not in any mood to see you two being gag worthy cute. Spill it, doll. What did she say?"

She blushed, the hand on Jake's face dropping to her side. "Oh. Yeah. You."

My gaze narrowed on her. "Not funny."

She grinned. "You'll live. Especially when I tell you…" she trailed off, taunting me on fucking purpose.

I pressed my hand to my chest. "You wound me. It's painful. Oh, the pain." My voice was monotone; I was not anywhere close to amused right now.

"Okay, okay," she said, sliding down onto the couch next to Jake and snatching a chip from the bag at his side. "So she was…really uncomfortable."

My face paled—I literally felt all the blood leaving it, heading to my heart which stopped and then began again in double time. "She wants nothing to do with any of us."

"Actually—"

"—she hates me. I hurt her feelings and now she doesn't want to be your friend, and she never ever wants to even see my face again. She _hates_ me." My voice broke a little toward the end. It would have been embarrassing if not for the terrible circumstances. Instead, all I could focus on was the agony of my imprint rejecting me. Damn, I was such an idiot. Why couldn't I just think before I spoke? Why did I have to try to make shitty jokes all the time?

"PAUL!" Felicity shouted, throwing a pillow at my face and effectively gaining my attention. "She's coming over to hang out tomorrow."

I blinked, my mouth hanging open. Blinked again. And again, and again. All I could fucking do was blink, apparently.

Felicity took this rare moment of my speechlessness to give more details. "She was super uncomfortable. Wanted to just forget the whole thing happened. I told her that you felt like a total jerk and it would help if she'd let you apologize. That you'd give her a short sorry, then we'd all do something fun to show we can get along without anyone hurting feelings. I actually tried to get it for today, but her family has dinner at her grandpa's, so we agreed to tomorrow."

Finally I felt like I could pull in a breath. She didn't hate me. She was willing to talk to me. To spend time with me. "Thank you," I told Felicity, tone full of sincerity.

She shrugged. "It's as much for me as it is for you. I want her to be my friend." She perked up and turned to Jake. "And I think she wants to be my friend too! She seemed on the same page when we were talking earlier."

Her smiled encouragingly, wrapping a hand around her neck. "That's great. I can't wait to meet her." He faced me. "You're going to have to let at least Sam know about your imprint."

I stared at him, my brain not thinking fast enough to connect the dots. "Why?"

"To make sure you have the time off from patrol. I definitely will, since I'm running tonight, but I have no idea about you."

He had a point. "I'll give him a call later," I said, albeit reluctantly. I wanted to keep this under wraps as long as possible—ideally until I knew she and I were on good terms. I didn't need the whole pack as audience to me fucking up the most important thing to ever happen to me.

"He'll keep it quiet for now," Jacob said, apparently reading my mind. Or just familiar with the thoughts of a new imprint.

"I want to make sure I haven't ruined it for myself before I bring the rest of the pack into this."

Felicity frowned. "You haven't ruined anything. And we'll be here with you tomorrow to make sure you don't make a total fool of yourself."

"Yeah," Jake agreed. "You'll only seem a little foolish, as opposed to totally."

I flipped him off before finally sitting down. "Fuck you."

He laughed.

Felicity ignored the exchange entirely. "What are we going to do with her? We should probably put some thought into that, right? I doubt she wants to come over here so we can all stare at each other."

She had a point. "Boardgames?" I suggested uncertainly.

Jake shrugged. "I'd be in for that."

"Not a bad idea," Felicity agreed. "Could you go to the store and grab a game or two and some snacks?"

I rolled my eyes. "No. I refuse to go pick up supplies to lull my own beautiful imprint into a sense of ease while trying to get to know me. Of course not. You do it."

"Don't be an ass," Jake said, but his lips were tilting upward.

"So," Felicity broke in before an argument, however lighthearted, could really begin, "we have a plan for tomorrow?"

Jake nodded. "Sounds like it."

I was about to say the same, but then my mind stalled. "Yeah…except how am I supposed to apologize? What do I say? What if I mess up even worse? Shit." Pushing to my feet, I began pacing again.

"I don't think it's as big of a deal as you're making it," Felicity said cautiously, her eyes tracking me as I strode back and forth.

Frowning, I asked, "How so?"

"She didn't seem super invested in the apology. I told you, she was just uncomfortable. I think more than anything she wants us all to move on. So get whatever you have to say off your chest and then act normal. It doesn't matter what you say in the apology—you know, so long as you don't insult her again."

Stopping in my tracks, I leveled her with a look. "I'm not that much of an idiot, doll."

She smiled. "I know. You'll be fine, Paulie. It'll go great. You'll see."

I wished I could have Felicity's confidence. She seemed so sure. Then again, she didn't have quite as much to lose. Still, she seemed sincere. She really thought it'd go well—great, even. I hoped she was right.

* * *

 **That's it for this one! I'd LOVE it if you'd let me know your thoughts. Please review! I'll post chapter six soon. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy New Year, friends! I hope you've all had happy and safe holidays. Sorry for the long delay on this chapter. I feel like I'm always apologizing for this - really, writing just takes a lot of time to flow sometimes. In the mix of school and work and life, it gets tough. But even when it takes me some time to update, I am always working on my stories - whether that be writing or brainstorming. And as I keep reminding y'all: do not fear that I'm abandoning my posted works! I will not do that. Taking a while to update is not the same as giving up. I don't plan on giving up.**

 **Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing and all of the things. I appreciate you to infinity and beyond!**

 **Now, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

 _Anna_

Dinner at Grandpa's was nice, uneventful, and passed much too quickly. I wished it could have dragged some—and I told myself it was because I enjoyed my grandfather's company (which was true) and not because I was beyond nervous about hanging out at Felicity's the next day (which was also true). Grandpa laughed as I hugged his brittle body a tad too long before we left.

"I'll see you soon, Annie," he told me as he patted my back. "You live so close now."

I mustered as good of a smile as I could in return and agreed. Regardless of my anxiety going haywire, it was nice to be near Grandpa instead of states away.

The next day at school passed even quicker than dinner, something I didn't think was possible. Wasn't school supposed to be mind numbing and boring? Since when did the hours fly by? But sure enough, the school day was over and I was expected to meet Felicity in the parking lot to ride home with her. Except instead of going to _my_ home, we were going to hers—her apartment. Where we'd hang out with a couple of her friends. And I'd have to be sociable and not a lunatic.

My palms were sweating as I walked to meet her.

She apparently spotted me first because I heard her call, "Anna! Over here!"

I turned to find her waving at me from beside her car. Was I smiling at her? It felt like a grimace.

Felicity studied my expression as I got close. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Nodding, I sighed. "Just nervous." I bit the inside of my cheek, unsure if I should say more to explain myself.

She gave a reassuring smile. "Don't be nervous. It'll go great! Jacob and Paul already think you're awesome."

I snorted as I climbed into the car. "Oh, they do?"

A faint blush stained her cheeks. "Jacob…well, Jacob kind of loves me? So he's glad for me to have a new friend that I'm excited about."

"That's sweet." It was cool she had such a nice boyfriend.

"And Paul, you'll understand when you get to know him better, but there's kind of no way you can go wrong with him. He's probably ten times more nervous than you, so no worries."

I said nothing in response this time, since I highly doubted she was correct. No way was that big, beautiful guy with those shining eyes and perfect _everything_ more nervous than me for this confrontation. It was the definition of impossible. But I didn't want to argue or make Felicity feel bad—or bring attention to the true scale of my nerves. I kept my hands folded in my lap so she wouldn't see them shaking.

The ride to the apartment complex was full of Felicity babbling about our plans and me staring out the window practicing my deep breathing. When we got there, it took everything in me to not drag my feet as we headed inside. To not make up an excuse to go home.

Felicity led me to her apartment, and we entered through the unlocked door to Paul and another guy, who I assumed was Felicity's boyfriend, bickering.

"It's called _options_ , asswipe," Paul said as Felicity quietly pressed the door shut.

"Obsession is more like it, and it's weird," Jacob argued.

"Oh, like you weren't—"

Felicity rushed forward then, cutting off the rest of whatever Paul was going to say. Apparently she was done being entertained by the boys' spat. "We're here!" She stepped up to Jacob and they hugged. I felt awkward watching them, so I shifted my eyes away.

And landed my gaze on Paul, who was staring at me. There was a weight to his expression, something deep behind it and I wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Definitely strange, considering we didn't know each other barely at all—and the one exchange we'd had was him insulting me.

"Hi," he said, voice soft and careful.

I bit my lip, unsure if I could form any words with how anxious I felt. Hopefully he wouldn't try to shake my hand just yet because it was beyond clammy.

When I said nothing, he pulled in a breath then said in a rush, "I'm a fucking idiot, and I'm so sorry I subjected you to that. I was trying to make a joke. I knew it wasn't funny. I should have known it then and _not said it,_ but I was stupider than normal because I was tired and said it anyway. And I know that's no excuse, there's no excuse for being an asshole and upsetting you, but I am so, so sorry." He paused. "So sorry. Please don't hate me. Please?"

Wow. Okay. I understood why Felicity had thought Paul was more nervous than me. She was still wrong, but he was obviously…kind of a mess. It was endearing.

And just like that, I couldn't help myself—I laughed. It was quiet, more of a giggle at first, but then it grew to an actual laugh.

Paul's expression shifted from regret to uncertainty. His mouth opened. Closed. I tried to stop laughing so I could say something, but now I needed to catch my breath.

Jacob took pity on us and said, "Hey, I'm Jacob. You must be Anna?"

Slight smile still on my face, I nodded. "Hi." It was embarrassing how breathless that short word sounded.

"Thanks for not letting this jerk," he hitched his thumb at Paul, "keep you from hanging out. It's nice to meet you."

"You too," I said, finally catching my breath.

Felicity placed a hand on Paul's arm. His eyes turned to her, shining. Hmm. The way he was looking at her…maybe there was a crush there? Maybe that was why he acted so strangely. He was trying to make Felicity happy. If she wanted me as a friend, he wouldn't want to mess that up. It was still bizarre for him to apologize so frantically but now that I had an idea of a reason, at least it made a little sense.

She smiled at me. "You remember Paul, I'm sure."

I'd just gotten done smiling, but forced another small one for a brief moment to be polite. "Yes." I looked to him. "I'll forgive you if we can just move on and never mention it again. Okay?"

He perked up. "Are you sure? Because I can continue to grovel."

I shook my head. "No. No groveling. It's done. Let's forget about it now."

Paul nodded, a smile on his face. "Okay. So. We have snacks and we have games. Just pick one you want to play and we can get rolling."

Felicity moved toward what I assumed was the kitchen, seeing as the layout of the apartment was very much like ours. It was probably identical, minus one room—our apartment had three bedrooms while Paul and Felicity shared a two bedroom. "What games did you get?"

Jacob snorted. "What games _didn_ _'t_ he get? He bought the store out of all their boardgames."

"You're exaggerating." Paul rolled his eyes.

"Um," Felicity said from the kitchen. "I'm not sure he is."

Unable to help myself, I moved toward the kitchen curiously. When I reached the doorway, I gasped. "Oh wow."

"See, it's not that many. Right, Anna?" Paul asked, lifting his eyebrows at me as if asking me to take his side.

"This is…a lot," I said.

"But not the entire store, right?" Paul pushed.

Jacob laughed as he edged around us and into the room, taking a place at Felicity's side as she studied the games on the table…and the chairs…and a few piled on the floor. "Leave her alone, Paul. You know you went overboard on the game-buying."

Paul crossed his arms over his chest. "I know no such thing."

"It just means we'll have to have Anna over again to play more," Felicity chimed in with a smile. "You up to helping us make use of all these games, Anna?"

I moved forward, reading over the titles of the games piled everywhere. There were a lot of common games, but there were also some ones I hadn't heard of that looked interesting. It was tempting, I had to admit. But would I be comfortable making this a regular thing? Too soon to tell. "Maybe."

Paul clapped his hands together once. "That's not no."

"It's not yes either," I pointed out quietly, then blushed. Paul and I had just gotten over a drama. I didn't need to be rude and cause another one. We didn't know each other well enough to banter yet.

But my moment of worry was for nothing because he laughed. "But it will be."

I blinked at him. "Confident much?" _Shut. Up,_ I told myself. I needed to stop while I was ahead.

Yet again, Paul seemed unperturbed by my sass. He simply smiled. "That's probably the nicest way anyone has ever put it."

"Yeah," Jacob agreed. "People usually refer to him as a douche."

"Okay!" Felicity said, putting her hands on her hips. "What game do we want to play?"

Paul looked at me. "You choose, Anna." The way he said my name…it made my stomach flip.

I shrugged. "Felicity?"

She shook her head. "You're the guest."

Jacob reached out, pulling the Scrabble game off the top of the stack. "Oh look. I chose what game we're going to play. Let's go get set up in the living room."

* * *

 _Paul_

Sitting on pillows around the coffee table, we got set up. I forced myself to focus on the letters in front of me instead of staring at Anna.

"I'll keep score," Felicity offered, hopping up to go get a pen and paper.

"Grab some snacks too!" Jacob called out as she headed to the kitchen.

I snorted. "And I'm the ass?"

He frowned. "What?"

"You could have offered to go help her."

He rolled his eyes. "All the snacks are in bags from the store. But I will get up to go get drinks. What would you like, Anna?"

Apparently startled at hearing her name, she blinked up at him for a moment. Then she cleared her throat. "Water is fine."

"You sure?" I asked, not wanting her to hold back for the sake of politeness of whatever. "We have soda and shit—I mean stuff, soda and stuff too."

She shook her head. "Really, water is okay. Thank you." She gave Jacob the smallest forced smile I'd ever seen.

If we'd actually had a second alone I would have checked to make sure she was okay since she seemed so uncomfortable. But as soon as Jake left, Felicity walked in. "We have basically any chip you could wish for," she announced. "You want some, Anna?"

Anna bit her lip. I wondered what she was so torn about. Was she not hungry? Was she nervous to be the first to pick a snack? "There's plenty," I told her. "I'll take that bag of cheddar Ruffles, doll." Hopefully if I started mowing this shit down first, Anna would be more at ease.

For once, it seemed like I did something right because a moment later, Anna reached out and grabbed a bag of wavy Lays. She opened the bag and carefully extracted a chip. Jacob came back then, handing her a bottle of water. As soon as she was done chewing, she didn't hesitate to open it and take a sip.

I reached over and took one of the bags of snacks, rummaging around for… "Hey," I said, drawing Anna's attention away from where it'd gone back to her letters, "we have some dip." I opened my bag of chips, scooping a helping of dip onto one and tossing it into my mouth and crunching away. "We can share."

After blinking at me for a second as if my offer confused her, Anna shook her head. "No, thanks."

I wiggled the dip at her before putting it down between us. "I don't have cooties or anything. I swear. And those chips are made for dip—those ridges? Maximum dip scoopage."

Her lips twitched—had I almost gotten a smile there? "My brother says the same thing. But I don't like dip. I'm just a fan of the extra crunch the wavy chips get."

"Interesting," I said, hoping I didn't sound sarcastic. It really was interesting. Everything about her was, and I was learning a lot. She didn't talk much but just observing her revealed a fair amount. It made me excited for when we would get familiar enough with each other that she _would_ chat with me…all the things I could learn about her then. But for now, I filed the new chip info away in my brain: _Anna enjoys crunchy snacks._

"Okay," Jacob said, "now that you're done trying to sell poor Anna over here on the wonders of chip dip, we can actually start playing."

And so we did. I'd been a little skeptical at Jacob's choice of Scrabble—such a boring choice, full of thinking and the possible use of a dictionary—but I could tell that playing the game really put Anna in her element. She fucking _rocked_ at Scrabble. She didn't speak much, other than the little bit of small talk Felicity urged her into, but watching her while she studied her letters and the board was fascinating. Her eyes were full on focused while the rest of her expression remained calm. Every now and then her lips would move the barest amount, mouthing her letters to herself before whipping out some brilliant word.

" _Zebra?_ " I asked incredulously. "You've been stowing away the word _zebra_ over there this whole time?"

Anna shrugged. "I've had the _z_ and the _b_ for a while and kind of hoped for the opportunity, but wanted to wait for the right moment."

Jacob snorted. "Like when you could land on a triple word score? I think we're being swindled."

Color infused her cheeks. "You picked the game. And no one made any bets."

"That _you_ know of," Jacob teased.

Felicity slapped his arm lightly, smiling at Anna. "He's joking. He's just a little sensitive because he's losing. Even Paulie over there is beating him."

If I hadn't been so intensely in tune to Anna the entire time, I might have missed it—but when Felicity mentioned me, Anna's eyes wavered a tiny bit. She looked down for the barest moment. As if she was…flustered? Upset? Uncertain? I didn't know her well enough yet but it was definitely _something_.

"Yeah, and little Anna is kicking all our asses," I said, giving her a wink to hopefully lighten her mood.

She blushed again, rubbing her hands together.

"How _did_ you get so good, Anna?" Felicity asked as she laid down the letters for her next word. We were nearing the end of the game, so it was a short one: _you_.

Anna bit her lip. "I'm not so sure I'm good at the game…I just got lucky with useful letters."

"You used _z_ in a word longer than _zoo_ , I think you're actually good at the game," Jacob pointed out with a smile, laying down his own three letter word.

"You could have done zebra too if you'd had the letters."

"So modest." Jacob smirked at me, and I knew in his head he was laughing at the fact that her demeanor was so polar opposite to my own. If I'd made even half the words Anna had during this game, I definitely would have been bragging my ass off.

Anna placed three letters on the board. "I read a lot. Maybe that helps?"

I was all over this offered information. "You do? What kind of books?"

Her gaze met mine for a moment before flicking back down. "Good ones."

I laughed. The way she shifted after saying it made it clear she wasn't entirely comfortable being sarcastic with me, but I was living for it. She was funny. And whenever she let a little comment like that slip out, it showed she was getting closer to being comfortable with me. All I needed was to reassure her to the point where she wouldn't immediately retreat right after each.

Felicity chimed in then about books she liked to read, and while I think she's great and all I'd wanted to know more about _Anna._ So I went back to paying close attention to Anna and her responses as we finished the game and Felicity chattered.

"This was nice," I said as we cleaned up. "We definitely need to do this again. Or anything. You just need to start hanging out with us on a regular basis, Anna."

Anna blinked, a small smile tipping up her lips. "We'll see."

"I'm not so sure," Jacob said, stretching back on the couch. "I don't know if I can take losing so badly again. I'm ashamed of myself."

"Maybe we should play on teams next time," Anna suggested quietly. "To make it more fair."

I grinned. "I call dibs on Anna's team."

Felicity laughed while Jacob rolled his eyes. "How did I know _that_ was coming?"

"Well," Anna said, getting to her feet. "I need to get home. Thank you all for having me."

I watched as she headed toward the door. "Maybe I should walk you?"

She frowned. "It's right down the hall. I think I can make it."

Felicity walked over and hugged her, and shit. I was kind of jealous. Or maybe a lot jealous. Why couldn't I hug my own imprint? _Because she barely knows you yet, idiot._

"I'll keep an eye as she walks over, Paul," Felicity said with a smile. Then they both went into the hallway, Felicity talking and Anna responding softly.

"How do you feel?" Jacob asked, seeming genuinely curious instead of mocking.

Pulling in a deep breath, I closed my eyes as I replayed the past couple of hours in my mind. Anna's smooth expressions. Her small fingers fidgeting with her letters. Her soft voice. Yeah, the day had gone so well. "Pretty damn great."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! PLEASE leave a review and let me know what you think! They really are so inspiring. See y'all next update - which I'm aiming for/hoping to be soon! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**What's this? An update that ISN'T forever and a half after the last one? That's actually only like a week since the last? Which is, like, an actual normal time between updates? WHO AM I?**

 **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! It was y'all that helped keep my brain in _Anna_ mode so I could get this next chapter done. Hopefully I'll be able to keep momentum going!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

 _Anna_

The next couple of days after hanging out at Felicity's were uneventful. I went to school, where Felicity was turning into my closest—and only—friend. Aside from my brother, of course. I went home, where we got ourselves set up and situated. I ate, I slept. And then I repeated. On Saturday, Mom insisted we did a final deep clean of the house and then it would officially feel like home.

By Sunday, I was ready for a relaxing Easter with my family. Instead of sticking around inside while Mom hurried around getting ready, I decided to head outside for a walk until we left to head to Grandpa's house.

"Anna, hey!" a voice called out as I exited the building and I froze.

I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. I recognized the voice: Paul.

"Feels like forever since I've seen you," he said, stopping by my side. "How are you?"

Left with no choice but to actually interact with him, I shrugged. "It's only been a couple of days. I've been around."

If he noticed how awkward I was, he didn't let it show. He just smiled and nodded. "Are you headed somewhere now?"

I shrugged again like the idiot I was. "We're going to head to my grandpa's house for Easter." I paused. "I was going to take a walk right now, though. While I wait for the rest of my family to get ready."

The way Paul's face lit up had me wishing I hadn't mentioned the walk. It was bad enough I was talking to him. Add us going on a walk together? My palms began to sweat. "I could walk with you. You know, if you're okay with that?"

Something in my stomach twisted at the hope in his voice—in his eyes. Why this beautiful boy cared about spending any time with me at all, I didn't think I would ever understand. It made no sense. But I couldn't deny him. "Okay."

He grinned. "Great!"

We stood for a moment, neither of us making a move.

"Was there anywhere specific you wanted to walk?"

I shook my head. "Just around the block, I guess. I'm mostly filling the time until we leave. Getting fresh air. You know." _So. Stupid._ What did I expect him to know? I was barely speaking coherent sentences. Ugh.

But Paul nodded like he understood. "Alright. Then let's go this way." He pointed to the left and started walking, thankfully. I joined him. "So you never told me—how are you?"

"I'm fine," I answered noncommittally, sticking my hands in the pockets of my over-sized gray sweater. "How are you?"

He sighed. "Tired. Work has been running me ragged."

I chanced a glance at him and noticed he did have bags under his eyes. "Maybe you should go rest instead of walk with me."

He waved his hand. "No way. I haven't seen you in days. We need to catch up."

"We do?" I asked uncertainly. Since when did anyone, let alone a guy as perfect as Paul, care about spending time with me? It was strange how suddenly I was noticed—by Felicity and now Paul. Only two people, but that was two more than I'd really had before.

"Of course!" he exclaimed with a smile. "That's what friends do."

I blinked. "We're friends?"

His smile faded. "Sure we are. Unless you don't want to be?"

My eyes widened. "Oh! I mean. I do. Or, sure. I…" I stopped talking before I made a bigger fool of myself.

Paul took pity on me. "Then we're friends. Felicity doesn't get to hog you."

I released a short giggle. "She hasn't been hogging me."

"I repeat: I haven't seen you in days. And yet Felicity has. Sounds like a hog to me," Paul argued.

My lips tipped up in what may have been a tiny smile. "We go to school together. It's not like we've been hanging out without you."

"Excuses."

"Facts."

Paul opened his mouth to reply, his expression light and happy, but we were interrupted before he could speak. "Paul Lahote?"

We both turned to face the cruiser stopped next to us, passenger window open with a man leaning in our direction from the driver's seat. I'd never seen the man before, but clearly Paul had, since he replied, "Chief. How are you?"

The man rubbed a hand over his face, ruffling his mustache. "I've been better. Doing a run through town to see if maybe I'll find Bella. I know I've asked Billy and he said Jake hasn't seen her—but maybe you know something he doesn't? Do you know if Bells has been around at all? Or at least made contact?"

Paul frowned, shaking his head. "Sorry, sir, but no. Last we'd heard from her was before they ran. Nothing since. We're keeping our eyes peeled, though."

He nodded with a sigh. "Alright. Thank you. Don't think I haven't noticed that you've cleaned up your act lately; I respect that. Keep up the good, you hear?"

Paul saluted the man. "You got it. Have you met the newest Forks resident? This is Anna. Anna, this is the police chief here, Chief Swan."

I gave an awkward wave as the man, Chief Swan, forced a smile. "Nice to meet you. If you or your family need anything, feel free to reach out."

I nodded, unsure what to say.

He didn't wait for more of a response. "Well, I'll be seeing you around. Let me know if you see or hear anything."

"Will do," Paul said, then the man drove away. After a pause, Paul began walking again and I fell back into step beside him.

We were silent for a minute before I felt the need to say something. "Sorry I'm so…awkward. I don't mean to be so embarrassing."

Paul's brow furrowed as he turned his head to face me. "Embarrassing? Anna, no."

I bit my lip. I hadn't meant to make him upset.

"You're not chatty. That's okay. I'm chatty enough for the both of us. It's not like you're rude—or an asshole who makes terrible jokes that hurt people's feelings." He nudged my arm a little with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

I couldn't meet his gaze and instead watched my feet as we turned a corner. "I'm not good at socializing."

"You did just fine at Felicity's the other day."

"I'm glad you think so."

"Hey," he said, placing a gentle hand on my elbow to make me stop walking. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You get on fine with people who give you a chance. You don't need to be everyone's best friend. Who even cares what everyone thinks? So far I think you're pretty great. Why else would I have begged to take a walk with you?"

He was purposely flattering me out of pity. Now not only were my palms sweaty, but my hands started to shake. I pushed them deeper inside my pockets with hopes that Paul wouldn't notice. I was a mess; I didn't need one of my new friends catching on to that fact so quick. "You're being too nice to me."

He snorted. "No such thing."

"Well, it's appreciated regardless. Just know that I'll understand."

Paul shook his head. "Understand what?"

I pursed my lips for a moment before saying, "I'll understand when you get tired of dealing with me. I'm weird and I'm anxious and I'm antisocial and I'm…lots of other things that aren't great to deal with. So I appreciate your attempt at friendship now, but I won't hold it against you when you decide to move on. I'll understand."

"Anna…" Paul started to say.

"Anna!" my mom yelled from down the road. "Come on, it's time to go!"

Grateful for the perfect timing of my family, I quickly started striding toward where my parents and brother waited. "Bye, Paul."

"Anna…" Paul said again.

I didn't turn around.

"This conversation isn't over," Paul called after me. "I'm not going to give up on you."

Still, I didn't turn around—but I heard his words. And though I didn't want to, I stored them away in my mind. _I_ _'m not going to give up on you_. It was too good to be true, but I couldn't help but hope otherwise.

* * *

 _Paul_

"It's sad, really," Quil said, "that he's resorted to driving around town hoping he'll catch a glimpse of her."

Sam tapped his fingers on the table in thought. "It's unfortunate Chief Swan got drawn into this. He didn't do anything wrong. But maybe he'll get good news soon."

I perked up at that, taking my gaze off the fried chicken I was devouring. It was a few hours after I'd taken the walk with Anna—I was eating some dinner at Sam and Emily's before heading out for patrol and took the opportunity to share the encounter from earlier. "What? Have you seen her, or _them_?" I didn't even want those vamps' name in my mouth.

He shook his head. "No. But we've been catching wind of them. It's in the air. They're getting closer. Whether or not they'll actually show their faces and be back is unknown."

"It's not surprising," Emily said quietly from where she sat next to Sam drinking tea. "Bella can't stay gone forever. Not all of a sudden like that. The Cullens know better."

"Bummer," I muttered, biting into my food.

"What were you doing walking around Forks anyway?" Quil asked, stabbing into his own meal.

I rolled my eyes. "I live there, idiot."

He snorted. "I know that. I mean, why were you walking down the street there? You said you were taking a walk. Since when do you do that? It's weird."

My gaze met Sam's across the table. He knew why. Emily probably knew, too, since they didn't keep secrets. Normally the pack was pretty open with each other as a whole—since it was more effort to hide things than it was to just let it all hang loose, something I'd learned vividly ever since I'd imprinted and decided to keep it under wraps. But I was going to be patrolling with Quil tonight. Was I really up for more secret keeping?

I sighed. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise to do your best to keep it to yourself. I don't want the entire pack freaking out over this."

Quil's brows lifted. "What would the entire pack freak out about?" He smiled. "Now I have to know."

Pulling in a deep breath I refused to acknowledge how terrible an idea this was. Quil was not the right person to share this with…but I'd already begun and he wasn't going to drop it now. "Do you promise?"

He waved his hand in the air, fork dangling from his fingers. "Yeah, yeah, yeah; I promise. Now what is it?"

Shit this was stupid. Too late now. "I imprinted."

Just then Sam's front door opened and a couple of people strode down the hall. " _You_ imprinted?" Leah asked with a sneer. "Gross."

Eli, Leah's imprint, took a seat at the table while she went to rummage through the fridge. "Congrats? Is that what we say when this happens?"

Sam laughed. "Paul is happy about it."

"Then why was he keeping it a secret?" Quil challenged.

Leah's head popped up. "It was a secret? When did it happen?"

"That's not important," I said, not wanting to go into all the details.

"Is she ugly?" Leah asked, not letting the subject go.

"Of course not!" I yelled. "She's fucking beautiful, you bitch."

"Hey," Eli said, but Leah just laughed. Sure, real fucking funny, picking on my imprint who wasn't even here to defend herself. Not that she would have defended herself. My imprint was lacking self confidence. The way she'd been so solemn earlier, telling me she'd understand when I gave up—shit, it hurt my heart. She was sweet, beautiful, and damn funny when she let her guard down even a little bit. She should never fear I'd give up on her…that _anyone_ would give up on her. She deserved so much better than that.

"Come on," Leah said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Tell us all the dirty details. Who is she?"

My first instinct was to continue refusing to answer, but then I knew exactly what to say. "She's Felicity's new best friend."

Leah scowled but said nothing—an improvement compared to how she may have reacted not too long ago. Eli zeroed in on me, however. "City has a new best friend? Since when?"

I laughed, about to say something else to egg on his bewilderment when Jacob ran into the room. "We didn't want to raise an alarm because there isn't exactly an emergency, but there's news."

Sam immediately rose from his seat. "Are they getting closer?"

Jacob's expression hardened. "Worse. They've been spotted."

Now Quil and I rose too, and Leah straightened from where she'd settled to leaning against the counter. "Where?" Sam asked.

"Dr. Cullen was at the hospital. Word is spreading that they had to leave for a family emergency but now they're back."

"Shit," I murmured, my body tensing as my hands began to shake.

Sam was the opposite, standing still as stone. "And why did you not raise the alert?"

Jacob frowned. "We can't just attack the guy in the middle of town."

"I'm not sure you should attack them at all," Emily murmured. "Not hastily, anyway. Think about it. Be sure. Whatever you do could save or end lives."

Leah sneered. "Since when do you care about bloodsucker lives?"

Emily stood tall, no remorse in her face. "I don't. But I care very much for my family." She looked at Sam. "Taking care of your brothers and protecting the tribe are the most important things—even more than vengeance."

Sam peered into her eyes for a good moment before nodding. "We'll be smart." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "But now it's time for a meeting. We need to discuss this, weigh our options."

"Weigh our options on what?" Kai, the newest member of the pack, asked as he walked into the room, rubbing his eyes. He'd been released from patrol earlier today and had no doubt just woken up.

 _What delightful news to wake up to_ , I thought sarcastically as Jacob told him, "The Cullens are back."

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter! It would make my day if you took a moment to leave a review and let me know what you think! In the meantime, I'll be working on the next chapter for y'all. Hopefully I'll get it done and posted soon :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, lovely friends! I'm back with another chapter. And, dear goodness, this one is kind of massive (for me, anyway). Before I release you all to this, I want to say a quick (but very heartfelt) thank you to everyone who has left reviews! I am not exaggerating even a little bit when I say y'all make my day. Also, thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited!**

 **Now, for the chapter. I hope you like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

 _Anna_

The Monday after Easter was passing by like a normal school day—until Felicity's hand clasped around my upper arm the moment we stepped into the lunchroom.

" _No_ ," she whispered, her eyes glued to something off to our right.

Glancing over, I saw it was a table that simply seated three teenagers. Did Felicity have a problem with them? She hadn't seemed to care much about what other students thought about her, even though there were quite a few who had choice words to mutter when they thought she wasn't in earshot. But did the group sitting across the cafeteria have a bigger problem with her?

"What's wrong?" I forced myself to ask even though I felt awkward standing just inside the doorway. I could feel eyes on me, heating my skin.

Felicity tugged on my arm, pulling me out of the room and down the hallway. "We're not going in there."

My brow furrowed as I hurried to keep up with her. "Do you want to eat somewhere else?"

She shook her head. "We can't stay here."

I blinked. "We have class—"

"Anna," she said firmly. "It's not safe. Trust me."

She wasn't making sense. She wanted to leave, and take me with her, because those people were here? They didn't even know me. I stopped walking, yanking my arm out of her hold. "I can't just leave. It's nice you're trying to be a good friend, but I think I'll be okay. You can go, though. I'll see you later."

Her head was shaking before I'd finished speaking. "I know this is weird, but I'm not lying when I say we can't stay here. Not just me. Both of us. I have a reason for it, and I'm sure I'll get to explain it to you…sometime soon. For now, though, please trust me. Come with me."

My face was growing warm, my palms tingling. I really didn't want to skip. But I also didn't want to ruin the only good friendship I'd had since…probably ever. "I…I don't know…"

Felicity took my hand. "It'll be okay. Come with me now and we'll sort it all out."

Biting my lip, I sighed. "Where will we go?"

"To a friend's house. They'll know what's going on." She started leading me down the hall again.

A friend. More new people. Great. As if I wasn't enough of a mess, now I had to take first impressions into account. "Maybe I could go…" Where? I couldn't go home without my parents knowing I was skipping. And it wasn't like I knew the town enough to suggest anywhere.

Her hand squeezed mine as we exited the building and headed into the parking lot. "You'll be fine. Everyone's super nice." She paused. "Well, mostly."

"Comforting," I murmured as we reached her car.

She let out a brief laugh, but it sounded a little frantic. "I promise, they're good people. They're not going to be rude to you."

She could try to reassure me all day and it wouldn't have any affect—I was going to be paranoid no matter what—so I sat quietly for the drive over to La Push. And for the first time, Felicity let us sit in silence. No chatter to lighten the mood and help pass the time. Though my hands were slightly shaking and my heart was speeding, I was glad I'd left with her. Whatever was wrong with her and those people at the lunch table, she clearly needed friends right now.

We came to a stop in front of a little house that was inexplicably welcoming. It was a complete opposite to how new places usually made me feel that I sat frozen in my seat for a moment.

"Are you coming?" Felicity asked, her expression starting to grow concerned. "I wouldn't bring you here if I didn't think everything would be alright. But if you're really that uncomfortable, we can go somewhere else."

A quick study of her face revealed that her offer was sincere, but reluctant. Pulling in a deep breath, I nodded. "I'm fine. Let's go." I opened the door and climbed out of the car, resolving to suck it up enough so that Felicity could get the comfort she needed from this place and whatever people were inside. I would not ruin this for her. Besides, if just a glimpse of the house gave me good vibes I had no reason to be so worried.

Felicity led the way, knocking lightly on the front door before pulling it open and walking right inside. "Sam? Emily?"

"Felicity!" came a bright, happy voice from directly ahead. A woman stepped into the hallway, wiping her hands on a dish towel. Her expression was kind, but my gaze immediately took stock of scars on one side of her face. As soon as I noticed, I made a point to stop noticing. I took in her smile. Her shiny hair. Then her eyes. They were on Felicity, but then she saw me. "Who's your friend? Is everything okay?"

"Are any of the guys here? We just left school and you won't believe—"

"The Cullens are back," the woman said, cutting off what was presumably going to be the rest of Felicity's sentence. "We heard that was happening. But you said they were at school?"

Felicity stopped right in front of the woman, her entire body tense. "You knew?"

The woman shook her head. "We heard they were coming back. That maybe the doctor had been seen in town. But we didn't know they were going to re-integrate so fast."

"You knew!" Felicity practically yelled. "And no one thought to warn me?"

Moving forward, I placed my hand on her back. They could have been speaking a foreign language for all I understood of the conversation, but the hurt in her voice was real and that was something I could relate to.

"City?" asked someone behind us. I barely had a chance to turn before there was a guy at our side. "What's wrong?"

She tilted her head back. "Oh, I am so not in the mood to deal with this right now."

"Come on," the woman said, gesturing to the room she'd stepped out of to greet us. "Come sit down. I'll make something to drink while lunch finishes up and call Sam and Jacob. We'll work it all out."

"What's happening?" the guy asked, eyes flickering between the three of us. "And who is _this_?"

Felicity sighed. "Don't be rude to her. She's my friend." She looked at Emily. "You should call Paul, too. He'll probably want to be here."

"Why?"

Felicity linked her arm with mine, and together we walked into the kitchen. "This is Anna, my new best friend." Her voice carried a weight, like the words had a special meaning.

To me it made no sense. Why did we need Paul? "You don't have to call Paul," I said quietly, though my stomach flipped at the possibility of seeing him again. I'd just seen him the day before—I didn't need to be so clingy. He'd never want to remain my friend.

Felicity shrugged. "He's probably looking for an excuse to stop by for lunch anyway. Emily's cooking is to die for."

The woman smiled. "You're too sweet. I'm Emily, by the way. It's lovely to meet you." She held out her hand.

I shook her hand and nodded, silently hoping my palms weren't _too_ clammy. My mouth was too dry to say anything. Hopefully I wasn't making it weird.

"And that right there," Felicity added, pointing to the guy hovering in the doorway, "is Elijah."

He gave a smile, though it appeared forced. "I'm a friend."

"Also my ex," Felicity said.

My eyes widened. Oh. I looked from her to him and back again. Now I was even more out of my comfort zone. How was I supposed to act? She didn't seem to hate him. But was I supposed to hate him anyway, in solidarity? I was bad enough at normal interactions.

Felicity sat down, gesturing for me to do the same. "Don't worry about it. We have shared friends, so we're fine. Not super close, but mature about things, you know?"

I nodded, though I didn't really know. I didn't have any exes I needed to be mature with. The closest thing I had to that was someone I preferred to forget.

"Okay, the guys are on their way," Emily said, stirring a pot on the stove. "I'm making soup and sandwiches for lunch, but it won't be ready for another twenty minutes. Can I get you two something to drink while you wait?"

Elijah snorted. "What about me?"

She rolled her eyes. "You basically live here; you can get your own drink. But honestly, you should probably go away for now. No reason to make this more complicated than it needs to be, yeah?"

I watched the interaction with awe. Emily was so sweet, you could almost overlook the fact that she was telling him to go away.

He smiled. "I can take a hint."

Felicity laughed. "That was more than a hint."

"I have a lunch meeting anyway. I'll see you later." He left then, and it felt like a pressure on the room was lifted.

"Sorry if that was weird or tense," Felicity said. "We're still getting used to each other. It's taking time."

I folded my arms on the table in front of me. "No big deal."

Felicity smiled. "Can we get some hot chocolate, Em?" She looked to me. "Her hot chocolate is amazing."

I forced a small smile back. It was a little better now that Elijah had left, but I was still in an unfamiliar place with at least one more unfamiliar person on the way. I couldn't relax.

"I'm on it," Emily said, getting another pot set up on the stove.

"If you could make that three, I'd appreciate it," Paul said, sounding slightly out of breath as he rushed into the room.

Emily turned to him with narrowed eyes. "I'm not sure you deserve it, Paul Lahote. Making _Felicity_ be the one to introduce me."

Paul grinned, but when he looked at me he seemed nervous. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, go sit down and be quiet."

He wasted no time sliding into the empty seat next to me. "Hey, Anna. How are you?"

I blinked at him. Shouldn't he have been asking Felicity that? She was the one who was panicking about something big enough to make us leave in the middle of the school day. "I'm okay. What was that about?" I was no good at social interaction, but even I wasn't obtuse enough to let the exchange with Emily go over my head.

He bit his lip. "I may have mentioned that I made a new friend."

"Me?" I asked, surprised.

"Of course, you." He focused on Felicity. "You doing okay, doll?"

Felicity glared at him. "Did you know?"

Paul held his hand up. "All I know is that the doctor was spotted at the hospital. And even that, I only learned yesterday. I haven't seen you since then."

She studied his face, apparently trying to decide whether to believe him or not. "Phones are a thing that exist."

Two more people entered the room then—Jacob and another guy. "It's my fault, Felicity. I should have told you," Jacob said, moving to sit beside her. "I was going to. I didn't know they were going to appear back at school so fast. I didn't even know Bella was officially _back_."

"It was a fast turnaround time," the other guy added. Then he looked at me. "Hi, I'm Sam. You must be Anna?"

The sudden shift in attention to me took me off guard, and I felt my face leech of color. I couldn't have opened my mouth and replied if my life depended on it.

Thank goodness Paul spoke up then. "That's right," he said, sounding…proud? He bumped my shoulder lightly with his. "This is my competition for Felicity's best friend."

Sam smiled. "Easy win for her."

"Ouch," Paul said, clutching his chest. "Harsh."

"He's right," Felicity said, taking a mug from Emily with a grateful smile. "Anna wins, hands down."

"Haters," Paul muttered, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. His face scrunched up. "Shit! My poor tongue!"

I couldn't help it—I let out a short, soft laugh. "There's a reason it's called _hot_ chocolate."

He glanced over at me. "Doesn't mean it has to be scalding."

My lips pursed. "Sounds like Emily was right. You don't deserve any."

Emily laughed from where she was putting sandwiches together at the counter. "I like her."

My hands wrapped tight around the mug on the table in front of me as a wave of happiness rushed through my veins. Emily liked me. Felicity wanted to be my best friend. And Paul was supposedly in for the long haul. How did I get so lucky as stumble upon these people?

I couldn't help but brace for when I'd inevitably mess it all up and I'd be alone again, but for this moment I was glad I found them.

* * *

 _Paul_

Sitting at the table in Sam and Emily's kitchen, I tried to inconspicuously watch as Anna sipped at her drink. She was smarter about it than I was—she'd waited a couple of minutes before even lifting it to her mouth and took a second to blow on it before attempting a small sip. She blinked, tilting her head to the side as she swallowed. She sat there quietly for a few more moments before saying, "Emily, this really is great. Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Em said as she started to dish out bowls of soup. "You're good with tomato soup, right? I'm sure I can scrounge up something else if you need."

Anna's eyes widened. "Oh, no, tomato soup is fine. You don't even have to give me too much. I'm not very hungry."

Emily smiled. "I made plenty. And there are sandwiches too."

"Em is used to cooking for the lot of us. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know how to make normal sized portions anymore," I told Anna, trying to help her get more at ease with the situation. She was so wound up.

As Emily passed out bowls of soup, Sam handed out plates and moved the tray of sandwiches to the table. I was more than ready to start stuffing my mouth, but I held back and waited for the ladies to grab some sandwiches first.

"Take some now," Felicity advised, grabbing two for herself, "before the guys get going. Their stomachs are bottomless."

I saw Anna's eyes flicker over Emily doing the same and taking a few sandwiches for herself. Her small hand reached forward and she grabbed one.

"You can take more than that," I murmured, trying not to bring too much attention to her. But honestly, the entire table was taking in our interaction.

She shook her head. "I'm not going to be able to eat more than this."

I frowned but nodded, not wanting to push her. Sam and Jacob started to fill their plates with the leftover sandwiches and I followed suit, making sure to get an extra lot for myself in case Anna ended up still hungry. Then I could give her one of mine.

But as we ate and everyone else made small talk, I noticed that Anna only picked at her food. A few sips of soup. A couple bites of her sandwich. A lot of peeling off the crust.

I gulped down mu current bite and leaned toward her. "You okay?"

She flinched, apparently startled. "Yeah, I'm fine. You want some of mine?" She glanced down at her plate. "I mean, you can eat around the parts I bit from."

Her cheeks were turning a pretty pink and I couldn't help but smile. "You need to eat up."

"I can't," she murmured. "Not right now. I swear, I'm just not very hungry."

I could hear her heartbeat picking up, so I decided to leave it at that. She'd already been uncomfortable with the situation; I didn't want to make it worse.

But of course, two seconds later it got worse for her anyway. "So, Anna," Sam said. "Where did you move here from? For all Paul has said about you, I feel like we don't know any of the basics."

Anna seemed to shrink in her seat, giving up on picking at her food as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh. Um. I-I'm from Colorado."

Sam nodded, ignoring her slight stutter. "How are you liking Forks so far?"

Her eyes settled on the table for a second before shifting to him then back down again. Surprisingly, they moved right back to Sam, though, a moment later. "It's not bad," she said.

"Not tough moving away from everyone you used to know?" Sam's question was probing but gentle. I couldn't help but stare at the two, too distracted to continue eating as they talked.

She shrugged. "I don't have friends." Her tone was clear and honest. There was no self-pity—she was simply stating what she saw as fact.

Sam's lips curled up at the edges. "You _didn_ _'_ _t_ have friends."

Anna watched him, silent. Then her lips curled up the smallest bit, too. "Yeah. I guess."

Sam looked over at me, nodding. I had no idea what that meant, but I nodded back, grateful he seemed to have relieved at least a small amount of Anna's tension.

"So," Felicity said slowly, "are we just supposed to go back to school tomorrow as if nothing is wrong?"

Anna lifted a hand, her finger fidgeting with her lip. "I still have no clue what's going on, by the way. Other than Felicity needing a friend with her, why did I skip class today?"

Emily winced and Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm guessing Felicity saw that the Cullens were there and brought you here?"

Anna nodded.

"There's…a long story that goes with that," Sam said haltingly. "But for now, the short version is that they hurt her."

"Bad," Jacob added. "It was really bad."

Anna frowned. She opened her mouth, as if she was about to say something, then closed it, biting her lip.

"I don't want to be around them," Felicity admitted. "And I don't think it's good for Anna to be around them, either."

I watched as my imprint's brows flew up at the mention of her name. She had to be so confused. None of this could really have a full impact without proper context. Context that she wasn't getting…because I needed to tell her about the pack. But I couldn't—not yet. She could still barely look me in the eye. She was still skeptical about Felicity wanting to be friends with her, let alone me. I couldn't drop our biggest secrets on her out of nowhere.

Or could I? She didn't seem like the type of person who took things lightly. She'd understand the importance of the secret. And I was certain she'd be reasonable and cooperate once she understood the gravity of things with the Cullens. Hell, she'd ditched school with Felicity today simply because she thought her friend needed her.

But even with all that, it was still too soon.

My mind was at war with my instincts.

"You can go to school," I said.

Felicity frowned. "And what? We just hope nothing bad happens? I'm not feeling too confident about that."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, ye of little faith. _You_ go to school. And _we_ have you covered."

"But—"

"No buts," I cut her off. "You worry too much. Everything will be fine."

"Paul," she said, her tone irritated.

Sam slid back his chair to stand. "Actually, he's right about this one. You have to go to school. So you go back tomorrow, and we promise you'll be okay."

Felicity looked at him. "You promise?"

He nodded. "Promise. Now we have to go." He leaned down and gave Emily a quick kiss before tilting his head toward the door and leaving.

Jacob gave Felicity a peck on the forehead as he reassured her everything would be fine and he'd see her later.

I glanced over at my own imprint to see her fiddling with her fingers, clearly uncomfortable. Reaching out, I squeezed her shoulder in a move I hoped was reassuring. "I know things don't make a lot of sense right now. I'll fix that soon. But for now, hang out here until Felicity takes you home, alright?"

She blinked up at me, her expression searching. I wasn't sure what she found, but she said, "Alright."

I gave her a smile. "See you later." Then I followed Jacob out the kitchen, out of the house, and then into the woods where we both phased. We ran to where Sam was waiting for everyone to show for a meeting.

 _What_ _'_ _s going on?_ Jared asked, his mind filled with confusion at everyone joining during his and Seth's patrol.

 _I_ _'_ _ll explain when everyone's here,_ Sam said. _Just pay attention and keep running your route, okay? Okay, Seth?_

 _On it,_ Seth said enthusiastically. The kid was probably the biggest team player in the pack.

 _If only my free time could actually be my own,_ Leah bitched as she phased into the link. _What_ _'_ _s the problem now?_

 _To the clearing, Leah. Now._ Sam's tone held no room for more complaints.

Still, Leah's mind was cursing up a storm as she made her way to where those of us not on patrol were gathered.

A minute later, the last of us finally joined. _Sorry, sorry,_ Kai mumbled as he raced to where we were meeting. _I_ _'_ _m not used to this shit yet._

 _It_ _'_ _s fine,_ Sam said, _just—hurry._ Just as he finished, Kai skidded into the small clearing, bumping into Quil. Luckily it was only Quil, who barked a laugh at the new wolf.

 _We_ _'_ _re all here_ , Leah said. _So, pray tell, what is the fucking problem?_

Sam ignored her completely, instead telling us, _Brace for what I_ _'_ _m about to say because I will not have anyone acting rashly. We discuss this as a pack and we take care of it as a pack, no one going it alone to try to take care of the problem. Understood?_

He got a lot of grumbles in return, multiple minds wondering what this could be about—and a couple figuring it out already.

 _We speculated yesterday about the Cullens being back. It was discovered today that they truly are. Not only are they back, but the ones that still attend Forks High are re-integrating themselves there._

I tried to keep my mind calm even as a majority of the pack filled with fury. There were countless images of the Cullens being ripped apart, the pack taking them down one by one.

 _Enough_ , Sam ordered, drawing attention back to him. _We need to be responsible about this._

Kai growled, but that simmered right down as soon as Sam glared his way. _But didn_ _'_ _t they break the treaty? Isn't that the whole point of it in the first place? To protect our people? To protect humans? If they broke it, it's our duty to punish them._

 _You_ _'_ _re not wrong,_ Sam said. _But we can_ _'_ _t just run down there and start a war without any preparation. We need to think. Strategize._

A faint whine came from Seth. _I_ _'_ _m not so sure about a war at all. Some of them actually helped us._

Leah snarled. _Whose side are you on, Seth?_

 _Ours! Always! But just because the doctor had a crazy day doesn_ _'_ _t mean we need to start a full-fledged war._

 _Felicity got hurt, Seth,_ Jacob's mental voice was quiet but seething. _She_ _'_ _s afraid to go to school now. She won't feel comfortable until we take care of this._

 _Who says taking care of this has to be killing them all, though?_ Seth tried to reason. _We were doing fine when we thought they left town, right? Why don_ _'_ _t we make them do it again? But this time we tell them to never come back?_

 _Because we were built to_ kill _vampires, Seth, not send them away for someone else to deal with!_ Leah argued.

I…didn't know what to think. I'd have loved to tear into some vampire flesh. I'd light the fucking match on them myself. But, shit, Seth had a point.

 _He does,_ Sam agreed with me. _Seth does have a point,_ he said. _But so does Leah. And Jacob. We all need to think on this. Weigh our options. We_ _'_ _ll reconvene on this in a day or two._

 _That_ _'_ _s bullshit!_ Leah snapped.

 _Talk to Eli about it before growing hell bent,_ Sam suggested. _Maybe you_ _'_ _ll find that he'd prefer a more peaceful strategy before throwing yourself into danger._

 _I don_ _'_ _t know how your imprint works, but in mine he doesn't run my life or make my decisions for me, Sam._

Sam sighed. _Everyone, just think on it. And remember that no one acts without the entire pack behind them._

 _Wait,_ Jacob said frantically before Sam could phase back into human form. _What about Felicity? You said she could go to school tomorrow and we_ _'_ _d have her covered._

 _That_ _'_ _s right,_ Sam said. _You and Paul will keep an eye on the school tomorrow. That will be your new second shift patrol. Deal?_

 _Great,_ Jared mumbled so that it almost got lost in the shuffle of thoughts. _Now we_ _'_ _re stretching ourselves even thinner._

 _Not for long,_ Sam said. _A couple of days, tops. Then we_ _'_ _ll make our decision and act on it. We can hold it together until then._

 _If you say so,_ Jared said.

 _Now that_ _'_ _s all. Your free time can go back to being yours._ That last thought was directed at Leah as he ran a little ways away and phased out.

I did the same, phasing back only a short distance from where we'd met so my mind could once again belong only to me. It was handy, the mind-link, but it could get overwhelming when we didn't have an alpha directing our train of thought.

As I walked back to the house, I realized the gift Sam had given me—more time with Anna.

* * *

 **Whew! That was a lot. What do you think? Personally, I think it wasn't my best but it also wasn't my worse. Mostly, it was a necessary chapter. Because I've got to attempt plot somewhere, right? Anyway, I'd LOVE it if you left a review letting me know your thoughts! And while you do that, I'll just be over here chipping away at the next chapter - which I shall hopefully post soon. Stay safe, friends! :)**


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